Borne Up on Angel Wings
by Digi Chris
Summary: When an attempt to destroy the Omega Stronghold goes terribly wrong, Shion and chaos are left stranded in a quickly deteriorating space colony, where she receives a cryptic message from Nephilim that may reveal the true nature of chaos and KOSMOS Sxc
1. Chapter 1

So... Yay, I'm writing again! It's my first fic in a long time so reviews of any kind would be greatly appreciated. This story was inspired from 80+ hours of playing Xenosaga II, and having Shion and chaos cast Dual Spell Ray in their swimsuits over and over again. It takes place during their trip in the Ormus Stronghold. Also it's spoiler free, but I do make a lot of references to the first game.

Disclaimer: I don't own Xenosaga I, II, or the anime. As a matter of fact I own very little but that's a completely different story.

Now revised and cleaned up for your reading pleasure.

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**Borne up on Angel Wings**

**Chapter One**

---

"Shion, look out!"

Two seconds. Two seconds were all the time the young brunette had to react to the swirling fireball hurtling towards her face, about to singe off her eyebrows...and most of her upper body. Since she used up one second breathing and the other squinting from the light created from the speeding inferno, Shion seriously began to worry that this was the end, and the loud, panicky voice that was screaming inside her head wasn't helping her reflexes. Had KOS-MOS not shoved Shion away from the fireball in the nanosecond she had remaining, her skin would be very, very tan right now.

As she hit the ground and tumbled twenty feet away from where she had been standing (with less grace then she would have preferred, but, considering the circumstances, she decided it would be best not to complain now) she wondered how the current turn of events could have possibly gone this bad.

If only Tony hadn't piloted the Elsa through the two black holes. If only he had picked a different route, then she could have spared her face almost being barbequed. But, alas, he didn't, and the Ormus Stronghold gated out right in front of the Elsa, blocking its course. Not convenient, especially when the ship's Logical Drive suffered a direct hit and crashed onto the enemy base. Naturally, the only way out was to blow the whole thing up. So after roughly two hours of sharing the E.S. Asher with Jr., who seemed to be more excited about blowing up robots than setting off the self-destruct sequence, Shion finally found the universal little red button that would blast the stronghold out of existence. It was bad enough she was given only a half hour to get out (considering it took her and the group two hours to get to the base's core), but when the time elapsed, nothing happened. The self-destruct mechanism malfunctioned, and instead of destroying the stronghold as was intended, it merely tore the base in two, trashed the E.S.'s, and split up the group. Jr., MOMO, Ziggy, and Jin managed to scramble back on to the Elsa, but Shion, KOS-MOS, and chaos found themselves on the opposite side of the stronghold, now separated from their only means of escape.

To add insult to injury, a large amount of Gnosis were gating out of hyperspace and attacking the distraught trio. KOS-MOS hypothesized that the shockwave caused by the strongholds's semi-destruction caused a disturbance which propagated through the black holes and was now attracting the Gnosis. Which was why Shion was currently engaged in battle with a large, dragon-like monster that spewed fireballs.

"Are you ok?" chaos asked as he helped Shion to her feet.

"I've been better..." She mumbled under her breath.

"Shion, my sensors indicate that this Gnosis has a weakness to beam-type attacks" explained KOS-MOS, "the power from an enhanced Spell Ray from your M.W.S. should exterminate it."

The Gnosis lunged towards the android. KOS-MOS stopped it in its tracks with a blast from her R-Cannon and then unleashed a volley of bullets from her machine-gun appendage.

"I'll hold him off while the two of you charge you're your dual tech. If you attack simultaneously you will kill the Gnosis." KOS-MOS screamed over the sound of her gun.

Shion nodded. She was a little nervous because she and chaos had never done a double tech attack before. Oh well, there was always a first time, and it would have to be perfect, since they didn't exactly have much time to practice.

"Ok, here I go." She closed her eyes and muttered incantations under her breath. A neon blue eye formed in front of her and targeted the Gnosis. As she lifted her weapon, she realized her arm was shaking. She tried to steady her aim but to no avail; if her shaking continued her aim would be seriously impaired. She couldn't afford to miss.

In her frustration she forgot that it was a double attack, and was a bit startled when she felt chaos approach her from behind. He placed his left arm on top of her own, steadying the weapon, and wrapped his other one around her waist.

"Don't worry," chaos whispered, "I've got you."

For some reason that Shion didn't bother analyzing, a hot shade of crimson streaked across her cheeks. She aimed her weapon and prepared to squeeze the trigger. chaos's hold had calmed her down significantly, but she couldn't figure out why her heart was racing. It wasn't because she was scared.

"DUAL SPELL RAY!"

The blast knocked Shion clear off her feet and into chaos's arms. Once she could refocus her vision she saw the beam from their attack rip a hole through the Gnosis's torso.

"A direct hit. The enemy has been exterminated. Activating auto-safety mode." KOS-MOS said mechanically as she stored her gun.

Shion released a breath she didn't even know she had been holding and let her head rest against chaos's chest.

"I'm not getting out of bed tomorrow." She sighed. She tilted her head up and found a pair of smiling green eyes staring at her.

"Nice shot." He told her, with the same calm, soothing voice he seemed to use for any occasion.

She blushed shamelessly. Her face was so hot she thought someone could cook an egg on her forehead. He was still holding her. She found herself staring at his face, his green eyes, his snowy hair...

"Thanks" She blurted after what seemed like forever. Now there's a nominee for most awkward moment of the year. A little voice inside her head was yelling 'stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, get a hold of yourself Shion! You're turning to putty!' Her heart was beating so hard she felt it would burst from her rib cage at any given moment.

"Shion." KOS-MOS said, startling her, "My motion sensors indicate that this stronghold is steadily moving towards the black hole. We have approximately 20 minutes before the gravitational field becomes too strong to overcome."

chaos gently allowed Shion's feet to touch the ground and she took an awkward sidestep away from him, trying in vain to adjust her composure.

"What are we going to do?" She asked, addressing KOS-MOS.

"If the conditions persist, this room will collapse in two minutes. I'm detecting the E.S. Asher five floors above us. It appears to be operational."

"So if we can get to the E.S. on time before the stronghold gets sucked into the black hole, we'll be able to make it back to the Elsa!"

"Affirmative."

Shion bolted towards the room's sliding door, but stopped halfway there and spun around.

"Wait a minute KOS-MOS, the E.S. Asher can only hold two people..." She let her last two words fade to a whisper.

"Correct. You and chaos cannot survive in outer space, I think it is obvious who will board the E.S."

"But how will you get out of here?" Shion asked with genuine concern in her voice. Every time the group was in a dire situation KOS-MOS always did something heroic and selfless but also incredibly dangerous. Shion didn't remember programming her that way.

"Do not worry about me. I've located the Elsa's signal a few meters outside this wall; it seems the Logical Drive is working again. Once the two of you leave this room I will destroy it's airlock by blasting a hole in the wall. If I launch myself into space, the momentum I gain from the escaping oxygen will be enough for me to reach the Elsa."

"That sounds very risky..."

"I apologize I cannot escort you to the E.S. Asher, but out of all possible scenarios, this one has the highest probability of success. There is a 98.6 percent chance that I will make it to the Elsa after destroying this wall and jumping through space."

"Just like old times." Shion whispered. She remembered the first time KOS-MOS had tried a similar stunt on Proto Merkhaba. She had almost lost KOS-MOS.

"I won't be there to catch you though, KOS-MOS," Shion muttered. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. "You'd better be careful!" She almost screamed.

"Affirmative." Shion could have sworn she saw KOS-MOS smiling.

The android turned her attention to chaos, "My duty is to protect Vector employees in general and Shion in particular. Under the current situation I regret I won't be able to do so if we are to make it out of here alive. Therefore I intrust Shion's protection to you, chaos. This arrangement will have the highest degree of efficacy."

"Don't worry." chaos smiled, "but if you don't make it to the Elsa all of our efforts will have been in vain. Be careful."

KOS-MOS nodded. Shion was about to say something but the ground shook violently underneath her. A pillar came crashing down from the nearest wall and crumbled to pieces a few yards from her feet.

"You two better leave immediately. Approximately thirty seconds until the room collapses." KOS-MOS warned.

They didn't need to be told twice. Shion and chaos hauled butt out of there as steel beams began to fall from the ceiling.

"Charging." KOS-MOS's gun materialized as she prepared to vaporize the enormous reenforced wall in front of her, "R-Cannon!"

A white-hot projectile shot out of KOS-MOS's gun and collided with the stronghold's wall. A large, red circle appeared on the wall where the blast hit it, which smoldered and finally melted away, leaving a gaping hole open to deep space. The Elsa was in plain sight.

KOS-MOS bolted for the hole and jumped through it. She hurdled across space and landed with a thud on the Elsa's roof, right above the cockpit. As she fastened herself to the Elsa to avoid floating away in anti-gravity, she was able to pick up Captain Mathews hoarse, angry voice over the Elsa's radio waves.

"What the hell was that! I just had this God-damn ship remodeled too. I'm telling you if the Elsa got hit by a meteor our debt is gonna– HOLY CRAP IT'S KOS-MOS! Hammer you idiot don't just sit there! Open the freaking hatch!..."

—

"Did you hear that?" Shion asked between breaths. She and chaos were running down a dark hallway looking for a staircase (in the aftermath of an almost successful self-destruct sequence, using an elevator would be suicidal) when they heard a dull rumble. She glanced back briefly to see the wall behind her slightly implode.

"Yeah, that was KOS-MOS. She must have broken the airlock." chaos replied as he squinted in the darkness, searching for some sort of map. Why did all the bad guy hideouts have horrible architectural layouts and confusing, labyrinthine hallways?

"Do you think she'll be alright?"

"She'll be fine." He responded absentmindedly, more concerned about the shadow he thought he saw out of the corner of his eye.

"I mean, what if she misses the Elsa? Tony will see her right? I mean..." She wrung her hands nervously. The short trip she had planned for Old Miltia had taken a steady turn from bad to terrible, and the string of events that kept going wrong caused her to worry more about the safety of her friends than usual. chaos sensed her shakiness and decided to calm her, lest her constant worrying prevent them from executing a plan that had "a 98.6 percent chance of success."

"Shion," he said as he turned around and placed his hands on her shoulders, "KOS-MOS is going to be fine–look at me Shion–she'll be fine. I know you want to help her, but if we don't get out of here, we won't be able to help anybody. She entrusted your safety to me, and I really don't want to break that trust." He smiled, noticing a light blush on her face. "Come on. Let's blow this joint. This black and red decor is really starting to get to me. Who built this floating cow-pie anyway?"

She would have laughed, but she was too busy staring into his eyes. They had this pacifying effect on her that made all her extraneous thoughts fly out the window when she looked into them. It felt as if she were swimming in a beautiful emerald pool. Yes, she and chaos were relaxing in a luxurious pool with flower petals in the air and singing birds...

"Wha?" She snapped out of her reverie, mentally kicking herself for having romantic thoughts in an enemy stronghold that was about to be pulverized by the force of a black hole.

"Yeah, Ormus is probably outsourcing their architects, you know how the economy is," she chuckled nervously, hoping he hadn't noticed her drooling at him three seconds ago, "let's get out of here."

She was about to walk quickly ahead of him to avoid eye contact, but she spotted something to her right.

"chaos, does that doorway lead to a staircase?" She pointed towards a sliding door with the word "STAIRS" glowing in neon above it.

"Uh, yeah guess so." Why didn't he see that before? "We should hurry then."

"Right. Uh, chaos?"

"Hm?"

"You're still holding my shoulders."

"Oh."

He removed his hands, grinning sheepishly, and the two darted for the door marked "STAIRS," ignoring the unenjoyable sounds of metal crunching behind them.

—

"You moron! Activate the airlock before you open the hatch! You wanna be sucked out of this ship at a hundred miles per hour!" Captain Mathews was screaming in his usual 'if you don't obey me I'm gonna kick your ass all the way to the Kukai Foundation' manner, while a disgruntled Hammer fumbled with the controls of the Elsa's cargo hatch.

"This is a roof cargo hatch," Hammer tried to explain calmly, "It's meant for accepting crates of supplies which are lowered through it by a crane, not for rescuing female androids that fly through space."

"Do you think I don't know what that hatch is for? I installed the God-damned hatch! I'm asking you to activate the airlock so you don't get sucked out of the ship, even though I'd like to throw you out myself."

"This hatch DOESN'T HAVE AN AIRLOCK! That's why there's a flashing light here that says 'don't open while spacecraft is in outer space.' We usually receive supplies on planets. Where there is air, and therefore no need for an airlock–"

"Don't annoy me with your stupid details! Just open the hatch!"

"I'm trying to, _Captain_." He sneered the last word, "but it's difficult because the hatch is usually opened from the outside. I have to insert a password and then override the code that prevents me from opening a hatch in deep space. Maybe if we got KOS-MOS to open the hatch herself–"

The Captain shoved Hammer away from the controls, "I asked you not to bother me with your stupid techno-crap. Here, see this lever, all you gotta do is pull it, like this." He yanked the lever and the hatch above them slid open, and out went hundreds of cubic meters of oxygen.

"Whaaaaaaa!" The Captain yelled, gripping his hat which about to fly off his skull and out into space, "close the hatch! Close the–" He was cut off as KOS-MOS came tumbling down. She fell onto Mathews, who fell onto Hammer, who fell off the ladder they had been standing on and all three spiraled down from the roof of the ship and crashed at the base of the ladder. The hatch closed quietly shortly afterwards.

"Oww...I can't feel my foot." Groaned Hammer.

"That's not the only thing you won't be feeling when I'm done with you." Mathews's face was almost purple with anger...and bruises.

"Greetings," KOS-MOS declared, almost comically, as if falling through a cargo hatch was a normal occurrence on the Elsa, "it was kind of you to open the hatch for me, but I very well could have opened it from the outside myself. You needn't have bothered."

Hammer scampered out of the way of the Captain's boot, which was about to connect with his face.

"Uh, yeah, you're welcome." He blurted, "where are Shion and chaos?"

"They are currently escaping the Ormus Stronghold by way of the E.S. Asher. I strongly suggest you steer the Elsa as close as possible to the stronghold's eastern wing, as that is the spot they are most likely to emerge from."

"Good idea," muttered the Captain. A faulty airlock, an incompetent navigator, the Elsa was turning more and more into a circus every day that went by.

"You know, I could repair the hatch if you allowed me to–" Hammer began.

"Get to the bridge!" Mathews roared. Hammer took off down the hall and didn't once look back.

—

"God these are a lot of stairs," Shion gasped. She hadn't realized how big the stronghold was. When you were used to zipping around enormous skyscrapers in elevators, five floors seemed like a lot on foot. Especially since she and chaos had been running up the stairs for five minutes and they had barely made it to the third floor.

"Yeah, I'll never take an elevator for granted again."

Shion was about to respond, but something fell from the ceiling causing her to unleash a scream that would have shattered glass. It was a Gnosis, a golem to be precise. The same type of Gnosis that had almost snapped her body like a twig when she was on the Woglinde. Needless to say, she didn't have very fond memories of this monster.

The golem raised it's massive arm and prepared to smack Shion with a skull-crushing blow, but her reflexes were still functioning...for the moment.

"Gravity Well!" She shouted and leaped up into an orb of electrical energy before charging the gnosis in a full frontal attack. The golem reeled but swiped at her like a fly and sent her hurtling down the stairs. It growled and barreled after her, its arms flailing. However, before the golem reached its target chaos jumped in front of it, blocking its path.

"Heaven's Wrath." He whispered calmly, and sent shockwaves of silver energy rocketing towards the Gnosis; its body jerked with convulsions and dissolved into nothingness upon contact with his attack.

"You alright?" He asked as he gently helped Shion to her feet.

"I think I broke a nail." She mumbled. Why did the enemies always attack her first?

chaos chuckled a bit.

"What's so funny?" She scowled, carefully biting off her cracked pinky nail.

"Remember when we dove into KOS-MOS' mainframe using the Encephalon?" He asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "I remember trudging through disgusting sewers and fighting a horrible monster in a church who wouldn't die unless Jr. or I killed it."

"No, I mean the part when we walked through your memories of Old Miltia fighting Gnosis and chasing bunnies."

"Yeah, what about?"

"Nothing, I just thought this is kind of similar. Just the two of us running around. I had fun for a while in the Encephalon–well, not so much the battling because it was mostly you getting clobbered and me healing you–"

"Hey!"

"–but I thought you were really brave in there. You faced your fears unflinchingly and didn't shrink away from the Gnosis. I gained great respect for you. I didn't think you were such a good fighter, or that you could pilot an A.G.W.S better than most of the Federation soldiers I've seen. And you were so modest too, always saying 'take it easy, I'm not cut out for this line of work,' while in reality you were wasting the Gnosis better than the rest of us. I was quite proud of you."

A small grin spread across her face. "Thanks." She gushed, reveling in his complement. Why was it that he remembered the "fun" times of their escapade in the Encephalon while all she remembered was wading through crap? But he had told her he was proud of her! Why did that make her so giddy?

'Perish the thought,' she told herself mentally as she caught herself gazing at his behind, 'you're not a lovesick teenager, and you're too old to be prancing around with...'

And that's when the floor ripped apart beneath her feet. There was no previous indication that something like that was going to happen. The ground simply split open, and Shion fell through the crack.

She screamed louder than she thought it proper for a lady, but didn't really care, and she continued screaming until she felt a strong hand wrap around her wrist. It was quite comical really, and she would have laughed had the situation not involved a near-death experience. The staircase had been torn apart, and she was dangling in between what used to be a flight of stairs between the second floor and third floor. She didn't think stairs were supposed to rip open like that.

"Hold on," chaos grunted, "I'll pull you up." And he managed to haul her slender frame up onto his side of the stairs.

"Whew," she groaned and quickly darted away from the hole in the floor. "Fireballs to the head, angry Gnosis, gaping holes; today is just not my day."

"We must be getting closer to the black hole. The gravitational pull is tearing the stronghold apart. See." chaos pointed towards the steel beams above them that moaned with effort, as if some unknown giant were trying to peal them off the ceiling. One of the beams snapped and fell through the hole in the stairs.

"chaos," Shion moaned with disbelief in her voice, "Why is the ceiling falling?"

He didn't have time to respond because an unknown force rocked the stronghold and knocked both friends off their feet. Another beam fell from the ceiling and scratched the wall of the staircase in a shower of sparks, leaving a deep gash in its trail.

Shion and chaos bolted up the stairs and didn't stop running until they reached the platform of the third floor. The situation was already grim, but Shion thought somewhat unrealistically that if they kept running they could reach the fifth floor before the stronghold completely collapsed. Her hopes were dashed when what used to be a column that supported the fourth floor tumbled down in front of them and blocked the path that led upstairs.

"Damn it, there's no way through!" She yelled in frustration. Then she had to cover her ears because the sound of screeching metal and splintering beams proved too painful. A cold, paralyzing fear gripped Shion's heart, and all the blood drained from her face. This was it. No way out. The ceiling was going to crumble and crush her like a bug. She was going to die. She hadn't even told chaos she thought he had a cute butt.

"chaos!" She cried and grabbed his arm. "We're not going to make it! That stupid Gnosis, our battle with it stalled us! If I had just...if I had just." Tears began flowing freely down her face. She didn't even scream when the main support column toppled over and plummeted towards them like a gigantic flyswatter.

"Get down!" chaos dove on top of her, shielding her body with his own. Her head hit the ground hard, and in her daze she thought she could see wings. Beautiful angelic wings erupting from chaos's back, protecting her from the falling debris.

So this is how it ended. An angel would come to take her to paradise...hopefully. The splintering metal, the angel feathers, and the deafening sound of steel ripping apart all danced around in Shion's mind during her last moments like some sort of distorted musical. She gazed up through chaos's wings and looked at the gray sky...or was it a ceiling? No matter, because whatever it was it was falling now, crushing her world. Everything went black.

—

So many stars. It was truly unbelievable; the universe is beautiful. Words can't describe... She was floating. How wonderful! Floating effortlessly in an ocean of stars. Was this heaven? Had she crossed over? If so then where was everyone? Her heart raced. Maybe she would finally see mom and dad now, and Kevin! Wait a minute, why was her heart racing? Did you still have a heart after you died?

"Shion." She heard a voice and spun around. Well, more like wiggled actually, it was hard to make a one hundred and eighty degree turn in space.

"Nephilim!" She cried once she spotted a young girl with flowing blond hair, "Nephilim it's you!" Shion's mind reeled, and am image of Febronia and her sisters flashed before her eyes. "Oh Nephilim, I'm sorry. I tried to save your sisters, but the Elsa...we couldn't get through so we had to go in and blow it up, and then it didn't work and we all got separated, and then the fireball we had to stop it–chaos and I–and then KOS-MOS jumped through the hole and the stairs ripped open and...and..." She was blubbering now. The words raced from her mouth in a jumbled, incoherent heap. Tears racked her frame and she cried out in frustration. She had failed! Just like she always did. Her entire life had been one failure after another. She wasn't able to save her parents, or Kevin, or KOS-MOS, or chaos. And know Febronia. All of Shion's attempts had ended in vain, ended in death.

"Shion." Nephilim said again, her voice soft, and for the first time she was smiling, "Don't cry Shion. You always were so sweet."

Shion rubbed her tears. Tears? Dead people could cry?

"You didn't fail Shion, and you needn't worry. You did everything you could, and already you've accomplished a lot. Don't be afraid. The Aeons will protect you."

Shion sniffed, "What's an Aeon? And what do you mean protect me? Aren't I dead?" She wasn't fond of Nephilim's method of communicating. All those riddles and cryptic messages.

"Don't worry," the young girl repeated, "when the first Aeon awakes, the other will follow suit. You will be safe, and Lost Jerusalem will be freed. You have the power to command the Aeons, and they will protect you."

Ok, Shion had been through some trying moments in her life, but she was officially freaked out right now. What the heck was an Aeon? And Lost Jerusalem? Wasn't that the planet from which humanity originated? And she had the power to do what? Command the Aeons? She couldn't even command her underlings at Vector's First R & D Division to file out a report correctly. She tried to pry more information from Nephilim, but she found her lips were sealed.

"Shion." Nephilim whispered again, and she began floating off into the cosmos.

"Shion." She disappeared, and Shion felt herself falling. Hurtling through space at unknown speeds, while a mysterious voice called her name.

"Shion. Shion...SHION!"

—

Her eyes snapped open, and oxygen rushed through her nostrils as if she hadn't taken a breath in ages. She blinked once, twice, and saw chaos kneeling beside her.

"Am I dead?" Shion blurted, almost disappointed that she wasn't after all she'd been through.

"No," chaos shook his head and smiled. "You seem pretty alive to me."

She sat up and got to her feet with more ease than she had expected. It's as if she had never passed out–which was probably what had happened. Either that or Nephilim picked some pretty interesting moments to give Shion visions.

"What happened?" She looked around at the Ormus Stronghold. Or what was left of it. Broken shards of metal and crumbling columns lay all around her as if a bomb had gone off in the room's interior. The staircase was all but gone, as were the separate floors. She and chaos were standing at the bottom of a massive room (probably the hanger) with parts and scraps of the stronghold littering the cracked floor. chaos pointed up towards a rather big hole at the summit of the stronghold. It lead to deep space, and air was surely being sucked out by it.

"The gravitational pull from the black hole must have shaken the stronghold up, but the wasn't the reason all the floors above us crumbled. The beams split because they couldn't support the massive weight placed on them."

Shion's brow wrinkled, "what could have been so heavy that it caused reenforced steel beams to crack?"

He pointed behind her. She turned around and there, in a pile of rubble, lay the most beautiful thing Shion thought she had seen in a long time: the E.S. Asher. With the exception of a few scratches and dents, the E.S. had remained miraculously unharmed.

"Oh my God!" She squealed with delight and grabbed chaos's hands. "We're saved! We're saved! And here I was all worried that everything had gone wrong, and that I was a failure at life. But our luck finally held out! I knew things couldn't have gotten as bad as I thought they did!" She danced around with chaos laughing like a schoolgirl.

"And I was so worried!" She continued, "I mean, when the ceiling fell my life flashed before my eyes and it scared the hell out of me. There were so many things I still needed to do! I'll never take another day for granted again. I mean, I hadn't even told you I thought you had an adorable as–" She froze in shock as she realized what she was about to say.

He looked at her quizzically but with a wide smile nonetheless, "You thought I had an adorable what?"

Shion blinked, "We're saved! Oh my God!" And she continued dancing. Nice save, she thought to herself, very smooth.

The two would have continued bouncing around out of joy but the sound of snapping floorboards interrupted them. A Gnosis, (another golem, was that symbolic?) had spotted their happy-fest and was currently lumbering towards them. Lady Luck had been kind, but she wasn't about to deliver them single-handedly to safety. The monsters were popping up everywhere now.

Shion and chaos looked at each other. Not a word was spoken, but two nods were exchanged. They bolted for the E.S. faster than she had thought humanly possible. In the confusion of their hustle, Shion had scrambled into the pilot's seat while chaos manned the weapons.

"Or you going to be ok?" He inquired, remembering that she had always flown co-pilot with Jr. "There's still time for us to switch..." He alluded to the fact that maybe he was a better E.S. pilot than she was.

"You just hold on to your panties!" She yelled at the snowy haired boy sitting above her, making a subtle joke about his tight clothes, "I'm gonna floor this thing and God help any Gnosis that tries to stop me!"

She slammed the throttle hard and the huge mech rocketed into the air, heading for the hole at the very top of the stronghold. chaos pointed the E.S. Asher's cannon lazily toward the golem who had jumped up into the air with the intent of dragging them back down. The golem was a fair adversary on foot, but it didn't stand a chance against an E.S. He squeezed the trigger and fired a hot blue laser that completely vaporized the Gnosis.

"This is kinda fun." He chuckled to himself, but Shion overheard.

"You just wait." She grinned. The excitement of finding the E.S. had pumped her with enthusiasm, "as long as you don't barf on my head we'll be fine." She jerked the E.S. to the left to avoid a falling shard of metal.

The Ormus Stronghold was deteriorating from the inside now since all the support columns had been crushed by the falling floors. Steel beams, plastic tiles, and all the other components of the stronghold were raining down on them like confetti. Despite her lack of experience with an E.S., Shion did a wonderful job of maneuvering through the debris while maintaining her path towards the hole. However, a few rather big chunks of plastic did hit the E.S. head on.

"You're almost as good Tony." chaos remarked, with just a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

A hand flew up and smacked his knee.

"Hey!"

"You just worry about shooting the Gnosis." Shion quipped, but it was like telling a fish to swim. He had been effortlessly blasting monsters out of the sky since she had taken off.

"Look ahead, there it is!"

Shion squashed the accelerator beneath her foot and the E.S. zipped through the hole, just before, it seemed, the entire roof of the stronghold came crashing down on the unsuspecting Gnosis below.

"Woo-hoo!" Shion couldn't help cheering. "I can't believe we made it out of there! And look, I didn't even scratch the Asher."

"Well, not exactly." chaos muttered pulling up a plasma screen that displayed all of the E.S. Asher's stats, "We just spent half our fuel escaping from the stronghold–do you know how fast you were going?–and our shields are all but gone. We better find the Elsa quickly."

"Got it." She responded, and quickly took her eyes off the radar to stare at the space outside. Two ominous black holes were swirling menacingly, and the Ormus Stronghold was slowly moving towards one of them. The Elsa was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm really glad we got out of there." She muttered. She returned her gaze to the radar and spotted a green dot moving towards the E.S.

"chaos," she said, pointing at her control panel, "Is that the Elsa?"

He looked down at the blinking light, "No. I don't think so. The signal is foreign. It doesn't even look like a spacecraft."

"Well then what else could be floating around here in the middle of two black–" Her mouth froze as something rather large caught her attention outside the cockpit window. "Oh no," she muttered, "no, no, no, no. This can't be happening. This a nightmare. I died and went to hell."

chaos couldn't see what she saw because of his position in the E.S, but he could only guess it was another Gnosis. His hypothesis was verified once the object was in range of his sensors. He had seen it once before, only much larger. This specimen was roughly four times the size of the E.S. Asher. chaos frowned. Their luck really had been terrible lately. They were about to fight a really nasty Gnosis. Cathedral.

—

"Yes!" MOMO shouted. Her pink hair bobbed up and down as she jumped. The 100 Series Observational Realien was staring at one of the computers on the Elsa's bridge, and she had spotted the E.S. Asher's signal.

"I found them! They made it out of the Ormus Stronghold. But they're on the complete opposite side from us. I thought KOS-MOS said they would emerge from the eastern wing."

"Let me see." Jr. peered over her shoulder. "Whoa, they're really close to the black hole. What's the chance that they get sucked into it?"

KOS-MOS entered the bridge, "approximately 46 percent and rising. I suggest we pick them up right away. Their fuel isn't going to last them forever, and I've detected a large amount of Gnosis gating out between the black holes."

"I wish we could go get them," Tony muttered, "but the Logical Drive is severely damaged. If we fly too close to the black hole our engines won't be able to fly out of its gravitational field."

"What?" Jr. pounded MOMO's computer with his fist, almost breaking it. "So we're just supposed wait for them to get here with Gnosis flying around?"

"Basically." Hammer said dejected.

"Unacceptable." KOS-MOS muttered.

—

Cathedral really wasn't that tough an enemy, and could have been beaten easily...if the E.S. Asher were in perfect condition...and if they had been fighting on flat terrain...with a full fuel gage. However, in the E.S. Asher's current state, it didn't stand a chance. The angry Gnosis swatted at the mech like a fly, and in less than a minute it had sent the E.S. Asher spiraling back towards the stronghold. The damaged E.S. crashed into a spacecraft docking area. Thankfully the dock was oxygenated.

chaos opened his eyes. He looked at his controls. No activity at all, the E.S. was completely busted. There was no way it was going to leave the ground again. He quickly checked Shion for injuries.

"Or you ok?"

"Yeah." She muttered, but her voice was dripping with venom. She grabbed her M.W.S. and kicked open the cockpit door.

"Where are you going?" He asked, surprised by her sudden spunk.

"I have absolutely HAD IT!" She shouted, "and to think I was resting quietly on the Dammerung before all of this. Grrr!" She broke the safety lock on her weapon, "I don't care how big that thing is; it's GOING DOWN!"

"You're going to fight it on foot?" chaos asked, trying to mask the incredulity in his voice.

"Hell yes, and I'm going to clobber him so badly we're going to have to wipe him up with paper towels."

He repressed the urge to call her crazy, "Um...do you think that's wise, Shion?"

"Look," she wheeled around to face him, "I can either stay here and wait for it to come and eat me or whatever it plans to do with us, or I can get out and kick its butt. It seems like ever since I got up this morning something's been conspiring to kill me, and I've had enough of it. I'm going to blast this Gnosis out of existence and then we're going to figure out a way to get to the Elsa and then I'll...I'll smack someone!" She growled and jumped out of the E.S.

chaos was taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm. He didn't bother stopping her; he was actually attracted to her sudden zeal to come out victorious. Not to mention her rage. Funny, she was very happy a few moments ago. The circumstances had brought about major mood swings. But who knows, maybe it was that time of month. He jumped out after her, focusing his Ether energy.

Cardinal swooped into the docking zone and landed with a crash by the E.S. Asher. It seemed enormous on foot.

"Get back!" Shion screamed and released a volley of electrical charges from her weapon. Cardinal sizzled and sparked as the electricity surged through its body. The Gnosis seemed surprised by her boldness, but it continued its pursuit.

Shion ran around to Cathedral's left and hit it with a cherry bomb. It staggered a bit and fell. The rumble its heavy body caused almost knocked her off her feet.

"It must be tired after its battle with the E.S." chaos shouted, "maybe its too exhausted to continue fighting."

Not quite. The massive Gnosis kicked itself off the ground and hovered above them. Shion was about to let loose a spell ray, but her weapon needed time to charge and Cathedral was too fast. It fired an inky black energy beam that tore a path in the ground as it swept towards Shion.

"Ah!" She covered her face with her hands, expecting to be incinerated (so much for her previous enthusiasm), but felt two strong arms wrap around her waist, and the stinging beam never hit her. She removed he hands to see four angelic wings forming a shield around her and chaos. Somehow they had deflected the energy beam. Astonishment swept her face. Had those wings protected her from the falling ceiling in the stronghold? She had thought she'd imagined them but...

"chaos." She murmured, not sure what to make of his newly grown feathery appendages. Was he some kind of angel?

"Don't worry." He smiled. Her heart fluttered. "This guy's been getting on my nerves too." He released her from his grip and shot up into the air, heading straight for Cathedral, letting loose a flurry of white energy bolts from his hands.

It was amazing. Shion had never seen anyone fight like that before. He spun and dipped through the air like a falcon, pummeling Cathedral while the massive Gnosis didn't even have time to aim an attack. chaos shot around Cathedral faster than a lighting bolt and landed three quick blows on the Gnosis's body (Shion thought she had seen the attack before, Lunar Seal, a golden beam of light, but chaos was moving so fast that she couldn't really tell), and evaded any pitiful attempts Cathedral made of injuring him. He sliced through the air and jabbed at the Gnosis with an uppercut while unleashing a gigantic ball of ice: Arctic Blast. The sphere shattered and crushed the Gnosis in an explosion of diamond dust. But not before Cathedral could fire one last energy blast that melted the floor, and, in accordance with Shion's current line of luck, the ground cracked beneath her and she fell for the second time in ten minutes.

chaos dove for Vector's First Division Chief Engineer, caught her in midair, and carried her gently to safety on a protruding steel plank. She gazed up in awe at the boy who had just saved her life (how many times today?) by singlehandedly wasting a Gnosis that usually gives Federation military spacecrafts problems.

"Who are you?" She asked in amazement as feathers danced around their bodies.

chaos smiled warmly and whispered in her ear, "I'm your Savior."

Before she could question him again, a dull explosion rocked the stronghold. The northern wall of the docking area buckled and imploded, as if some giant had crumpled the steel like paper.

"Hold on!" chaos cried above the scream of the air escaping into deep space, "and take a really deep breath."

Shion didn't bother asking why, since she was more preoccupied with the present condition of the Ormus Stronghold: slowly crumbling and speeding towards a black hole that would tear apart all of their molecules faster than the speed of light. She wrapped her arms around chaos's neck and he alighted off the ground, embracing her to make sure the howling wind wouldn't separate them. He threw one last glance behind his shoulder to make sure Cathedral had indeed evaporated into nothingness. Finally, without hesitating, he beat his wings once and whizzed towards the open wall as Shion's hair flapped wildly in the wind, tickling his face.

Once her feet left the floor Shion didn't open her eyes until the howling wind stopped blowing in her face. She clung to chaos's shirt with white knuckles, fearing she would fall, but her fears were unfounded as she realized they were zooming through deep space. There was nowhere to fall to. She also realized the wind stopped blowing because there was no air. chaos was flying through space. How was that possible! It was already mind-boggling that he had wings, but how could _anything_ travel through a vacuum without some sort of propulsion? How could they be moving with no air underneath his wings?

She would have loved to continue asking herself questions, but the lack of air was starting to get to her. She needed to breathe (and didn't he as well?) Even if she did lose the will to hold her breath; her diaphragm would quiver helplessly in the vacuum of space.

She looked up at chaos's face, which was lit only by starlight now. So the mysterious boy could fly through space. This was handy. If he had preformed a stunt like this a little sooner they could have saved themselves quite a bit of trouble. She made a note to ask him why he waited so long to turn into Superangel once they were safe. If they ever would be safe... Where was the Elsa? It was hard to judge their speed without any point of reference, but the Ormus Stronghold faded behind them very quickly, so chaos must have been going incredibly fast. They would have spotted the Elsa by now if it were close by.

Enough. No more time to think. Shion's lungs were screaming. She cast a desperate look at chaos, even in the dim light he could tell her face was steadily turning an eerie shade of blue. She couldn't even cry for help. The sound waves couldn't leave her vocal chords.

chaos held her head reassuringly and flew in a wide arc around the disappearing stronghold. He had to find the Elsa. There was simply no other option. If he didn't spot the space cruiser in the next ten seconds, well, that would just be unacceptable.

"Shion." In the midst of her agony Shion could still hear the crazy voices in her head. "Shion." Nope, she wasn't going insane. It was Nephilim.

"Shion, the Aeons are protecting you. Don't be afraid. All you have to do is ask for their help. Can't you tell they've been helping you up to this point? Have a little faith."

Again with the freaking Aeons! If only Nephilim would stop it with the cryptic messages! Shion couldn't take it anymore. She knew she'd pass out soon.

"KOS-MOS." She whispered against chaos's chest, "please help us."

—

"What! I lost it!" Jr. whacked his monitor again. MOMO had left her computer and taken her seat at another screen on the bridge. She was afraid Jr.'s fist would collide with her head next.

"I just had it!" He shouted again, "I just had the E.S. Asher's signal on our sensors, but then it spun around and went back into the stronghold. Why the hell would they go back? Did Shion drop her wallet! And now the signal is completely gone."

"The Ormus Stronghold is approaching the black hole at dangerous speeds," MOMO said worriedly, she pointed at the display on her screen, "at this rate it'll..."

"It'll be pulled into the hole's gravitational field in less then three minutes, at which point not even light will be able to escape." KOS-MOS completed MOMO's sentence. As she finished speaking, a peculiar look crossed the android's face. It looked as if she were confused, but she quickly blinked it away and walked towards the bridge's exit with fearful resolve.

"Hammer," she said, typing in a few coordinates on his navigational computer, "direct the Elsa to this spot. The black hole's gravitational field is weak there, and even the Elsa's damaged Logical Drive should be able to escape it."

"Why," Mathews began, annoyed that someone other than himself was giving Hammer orders, "should we follow those directions?"

"Shion and chaos have left the stronghold and are headed for those coordinates. If you'll please excuse me, I'll be on the Elsa's roof receiving them. You should head for that destination with all due speed."

"I'm on it!" Cried Tony.

"What!" The Captain yelled, jumping out of his elevated chair, "you're gonna leave the ship? Are you nuts! After all that work it took us to haul your metallic butt back in here?" He raced across the bridge and blocked her path.

"Captain," KOS-MOS said calmly, "I don't believe I have a choice in this matter. Shion will not survive in outer space for more than four minutes. Six at most. I suggest you move before I resort to forceful measures."

"Please do." Hammer muttered under his breath.

"Hey!" The Captain bellowed, "I heard that!" But as he was screaming at the Elsa's navigator, KOS-MOS shoved him aside and proceeded down the ship's cabin towards the emergency elevator that would take her to the roof.

"Wait," Mathews called after her, "At least activate the airlock!"

—

"Don't worry." chaos whispered into Shion's ear. She was too tired to wonder how she could possibly hear his voice. "Everything is going to be fine."

She shot him a look that said "how could you possibly say that when we're flying around airless space without any idea where the Elsa is and these god-damned black holes have sucked up all our chances of survival!" But chaos only smiled warmly and nodded ahead of him. Shion turned her head and gasped. Well, would have gasped if air could have rushed down her throat.

In the glare of its headlights, the Elsa was approaching. It was beautiful, Shion thought, and kind of romantic too. Here she was in the arms of an angel being carried through the dizzying immensity of starlit space towards a sleek and powerful space cruiser. Or, that's what she would have thought anyway if her lungs weren't about to explode. Shion squinted in the starlight and attempted to gasp again. KOS-MOS was standing on the roof of the bridge with her arms outstretched, as if she'd known they would have come this way all along. chaos sped toward her and both he and Shion reached out and grabbed KOS-MOS's hands. She pulled them to safety and started the elevator's descent to the wonderfully oxygenated interior of the Elsa.

Shion was too weak to stand, and her head collapsed on KOS-MOS's shoulder. She turned her head just enough so she could see chaos beaming down at her. His wings were disappearing in a flurry of feathers. For an instant the aura of sadness he usually carried about him was gone. She wanted to say thank you, but realized the faint wisps of air just beginning to blow around them wouldn't be enough to carry her voice to his ears. So in a burst of newly found strength, she grabbed his hand and held it close to her heart, locking their fingers together. She smiled weakly and the last thing she saw was chaos's face turning an interesting shade of scarlet before she passed out on KOS-MOS' shoulder.

_Don't worry Shion. The Aeons will protect you._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew, longer than I thought. Anyhow, I'm going on vacation next week, so I don't know how quickly I'll get the next chapter up, but I'll do my best.

Tell me what you think, R/R.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay. Would you believe my laptop can't access the internet in Europe? Shouldn't have come as such a big surprise--that _America_ Online doesn't work in _Italy_--but whatever. I was told you can get online if you buy an Ethernet card and connect wirelessly. Bull. Italians haven't even discovered air conditioning, but I digress...

Anyway, I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the wait, it's pretty long. I tried coming up with a name for it, but nothing stuck, so I thought 'hey, I'll let the readers decide.' Leave your suggestions with your reviews, and I'll pick the one I like best. I'll find a way of incorporating the winner's name into the fic or something.

Disclaimer: Xenosaga and all affiliated brands belong to their respective owners.

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**Borne Up on Angel Wings**

**Chapter 2 Insert Title Here**

---

Breathe, she told herself. Breathe and everything will be ok. Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared around the familiar walls of her cabin. She had made it to the Elsa against all odds, (with a little bit of help).

Shion struggled to sit up in her bed. She was exhausted. The lack of oxygen coupled with frequent Gnosis encounters had drained her of her energy. It took a great deal of effort for her to get to her feet and stumble to the bridge. She needed to know what was going on. The Elsa's Logical Drive had been damaged, so hyperspace was out of the question. How were they going to get anywhere?

The bridge doors slid open, and as she walked through, she noticed everybody was sitting on the edge of their seats, staring intently at their respective monitors with worried faces. Her presence had gone unnoticed. The bridge was eerily quiet.

Captain Mathews's voice broke the silence. "Don't you EVER try a stunt like that again! You could have completely blown out our thrusters!"

Tony turned around calmly, but Shion noticed his knuckles were white. He had been gripping the ship's controls rather tightly.

"Excuse me Captain, but I believe it was _your_ idea to retrieve the E.S. Asher before the stronghold got sucked up by the black hole. I was merely following orders. The Elsa's thruster's _are_ shot, and that's because you lack better judgment."

"You were driving like a maniac!" The Captain's face began turning violet.

Jin stood up, "I was against the idea. The E.S. Asher is replaceable. By retrieving it you placed all of our lives in danger. It's a miracle the Elsa escaped the black hole's gravitational field." He folded his arms and scowled at Mathews.

"Yeah," Tony scoffed, running a hand through his light brown locks, "and the only reason we got out of there was because of my fantastic piloting skills. If anybody else had been driving this ship, our molecules would be scattered across the cosmos by now."

The Captain quietly fumed, but he kept his voice down because he believed Shion was still sleeping. "Do you have any idea how valuable the E.S. Asher is?" He glared at Jin, "What would have happened if we didn't go back and get it?"

Jin rolled his eyes, but it was true. The E.S.'s computer contained a comprehensive documentation on its hard drive of everything that occurred on the Ormus Stronghold. That information was vital to them and to the Federation, which would need some sort of proof when Captain Mathews made the claim that he had been attacked by a gigantic enemy spaceship. Without the information stored on the E.S. Asher's hard drive, the Federation could suspect the Captain was lying, and that the damage on the Elsa's Logical Drive could have come from anything.

"Still," Jin said, subtly nodding towards the cabin, "there are some who have already been through enough today. Playing catch with an E.S. while gambling our luck with one of the most powerful forces in the universe hardly seems wise."

"We had an 81 chance of falling into the black hole's gravitational pull while retrieving the E.S. Asher." KOS-MOS spoke up, staring cooly at the Captain, "Tony's piloting skills had nothing to do with our unlikely escape. Dumb luck, as you would call it, was on our side. We happened to be in an area where the black hole's gravity waves had waned for an instant, allowing the Elsa's now damaged thrusters to break free. I would not recommend repeating that stunt again with those odds simply because--"

"It was dangerous!" MOMO yelled and jumped to her feet. There was no anger in her voice, just concern, "What we just did was incredibly dangerous! I'm not trying to blame anybody, but we almost lost Shion and chaos out there, and if it were up to me I would have flown them to the nearest hospital immediately, E.S. Asher or not. I think the Captain is right in saying that the information stored in the E.S. Asher's mainframe is very important. I just don't think it was worth risking Shion and chaos's lives again." She paused, nervously patting down her skirt, "Everything turned out OK, so we should just be happy, but the only thing that upsets me is that if we knew the Elsa had even a slim chance of escaping the black hole's gravitational field, then why didn't we rescue Shion and chaos in the first place instead of waiting here while Shion almost suffocated to death?"

Captain Mathews looked like a kettle on the verge of exploding, but he kept his voice calm:

"That's an excellent point MOMO. If I had known we could have escaped the black hole I would have taken control of the Elsa myself and gone to rescue them. But I thought they were coming back on the E.S. Asher. When they didn't... well, we _had_ to get it back. I apologize for placing your lives in danger, but sometimes its unavoidable. The information on that E.S. is more precious than most of you probably realize. Believe me, I've dealt with Federation beaurocracy before. Shion stole an E.S. from the Dammerung, we're flying towards Old Miltia (an off-limits planet), and now we're about to claim that we've been fired upon by the--whadaya call it?-- Ormus Stronghold. To the Federation, our behavior has been pretty damn suspicious. If we don't have a comprehensive log that spells out exactly what happened to us, nobody is going to believe us, and we could face criminal charges for flying in restricted space. Again, I know how dangerous it was, and I'm... sorry."

MOMO nodded, "Let's just avoid doing something like that again."

"Absolutely. Things are already tense here as is." The Captain jerked a thumb towards Allen, who was hunched over in his chair and had been hyperventilating ever since Shion entered the bridge. Evidently Tony's mad dash out of the black hole's gravity waves hadn't been gentle on Allen's stomach.

Jin relaxed a bit and sat down. As he slid into his chair, he noticed his sister standing in the bridge's doorway.

"How are you feeling?"

"Uh... much better, thank you." Her voice was soft and tired, and it seemed to cut through all the built up tension on the bridge.

chaos, who had been typing furiously at his computer during the Elsa's retrieval of the E.S., spun around in his chair.

"Hey." He called out, surprised to see her already on her feet. She waved shyly.

"Shion!" MOMO darted towards the door and hugged the young brunette, "I'm glad you're ok. You didn't look too good when chaos brought you in here." She smiled a little and whispered, "he hasn't said a word since you and he came back. He's been _really_ worried about you." The Realian winked at her.

"It's good to see you're up." Jr. smiled.

Shion felt a bit overwhelmed. All of her friends were staring at her with genuine concern on their faces. For a moment she felt a strange sense of belonging. Peace and happiness welled up in her as she stood in the company of the people who cared for her. She hadn't felt that way in a while.

"Well, hello everyone. How are you all?" The words flew out of her mouth mechanically, but she realized that maybe she should have held her tongue. The escape from the black hole almost ripped the Elsa to shreds, and its passengers were obviously in a pretty sour mood. She suddenly understood the cause for all the turbulence she had felt in her cabin before while she teetered between sleep and consciousness.

"Oh, peachy," Tony answered, "we can't really go anywhere and we're stranded in the middle of nowhere. We're all going to die."

MOMO spun around and glared at the pilot. His remark had been intended as a joke, but she didn't believe Shion would think it was very funny. Especially after what she had gone through.

"We're not going to die," Mathews retorted, "idiot. I've sent out a distress signal through the Unus Mundus. Federation ships will come rescue us in a few hours."

"How much is 'a few hours'?" Shion asked as she slumped into a nearby chair. Her muscles still ached with fatigue.

"Taking into consideration the Federation's relatively slow response to distress signals in the U.M.N., I'd say the first rescue ships should arrive in forty-eight hours." KOS-MOS responded, without a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"WHAT?" Allen shot up to his feet, clutched his stomach, and sank back down again. "Forty eight hours! But what if Shion were dangerously hurt? Does the Federation expect us to be able to survive without a problem for two days? What if the oxygen providers on the Elsa malfunctioned? There'd be nothing left for the Federation to rescue!"

Mass outrage broke out on the bridge, which mostly consisted of random complaints shouted to the Captain while he yelled back, 'what do you expect me to do about it?... idiot.'

"Relax everyone," Jr.'s voice rose above the general commotion, "I placed a call for help through the U.M.N. to the Kukai Foundation. They'll be here by tomorrow afternoon."

Shion glanced at a clock on the monitor beside her. It read nine o'clock in the evening. In space, without a star to orbit around, day and night are nonexistent; however, the Elsa's clocks were synchronized with the ones on the capital of Second Miltia, and everyone aboard the Elsa was on Second Miltia time.

"Well, I guess I can wait until tomorrow," she yawned, "I don't think I'm in any mortal danger for the time being." She paused and looked at the clock: 9:01. "Still, the more we wait here, the more Feb's sisters suffer on Old Miltia. I can't just sit here and wait to be rescued like a damsel in distress." She turned to the Captain, "Does the Elsa have a safety pod or some sort of smaller space vessel? Maybe I can reach Old Miltia on my own. If I can get in touch with Feb, I could tell her--"

"You should rest." Ziggy's voice cut the air like a blade. Everyone fell silent. The terse cyborg lived by the motto, 'if you have nothing intelligent to say than say nothing at all.' For him to speak out about Shion's safety, or anybody's for that matter, was very unusual.

"If you were to leave now for Old Miltia in a one-man pod you wouldn't make it past the first transfer column, especially in your current condition," he continued, "until the Kukai Foundation repairs our Logical Drive I suggest we all relax. Don't think about Feb's sisters, or the Zohar, or Ormus. We can't do anything now anyway, and worrying would simply make the situation worse. Just..." He paused, searching for a word he didn't use often, "...chill."

"He's right." KOS-MOS walked over to Shion and helped her out of her chair, "humans do not function properly without resting. A lack of sleep lowers your reaction time, ruins your skin, strains your vision, creates unnecessary stress, and makes you irritable. Without the required eight hours of sleep, humans are prone to--"

"All right! Thank you KOS-MOS, I get it. I'll rest now."

"We all should." Jin turned to leave, "We've had a rather trying day. It's best we all take it easy for a while, lest we all become irritable." He glanced briefly at the Captain before exiting the bridge.

Everyone decided to take Ziggy's advice to heart. Tony put the ship in autopilot (not that it could go anywhere anyhow) and retired to his cabin, muttering something about beauty sleep. Everyone followed suit. Even KOS-MOS decided to have her routine maintenance done. Shion trailed behind MOMO and headed for their cabin, but she stopped at the bridge's doorway and looked over her shoulder. Only chaos was left, punching in a few final commands on his computer. He looked up from his monitor to see who was still lingering on the bridge, and saw Shion beam him a smile which would have won her the Miss Miltia contest hands down. He gazed at her with an expression that bordered between confusion and shyness. Either way she thought he looked adorable. Dramatically turning around so that her hair shimmered around her head, Shion noticed a sliver of steel rocketing towards her. She jumped out of the doorway before the sliding door closed on her face.

---

"Shion."

"Noooo." Shion groaned in her sleep. She was too tired and cranky to have Nephilim visit her in her dreams and babble about supernatural phenomena.

"Don't be afraid to trust your heart." Nephilim was telling her, "remember that sometimes the line between friends and enemies is very blurry, and it's difficult to tell the difference."

"The line between slightly annoyed and pissed as hell is also very blurry," Shion muttered, "and right now I don't think there is a difference."

"Trust your heart," Nephilim repeated, "if the Zohar momentarily falls into the wrong hands, it may be to your advantage. Don't be discouraged if your first attempt to retrieve the original Zohar fails."

"I can't hear you, la la la la la."

"No matter what road you choose, the outcome guided by your destiny will always be the same. The Aeons may be swayed by the enemy, but your heart will set them straight."

"Again with the Aeons? Ok, humor me. What are they?"

Nephilim's mouth twitched into what could be construed as a smile. "You know them better than I do."

Shion fumed silently in frustration, "Fine. How many of them are there?"

Nephilim semi-smiled again, "Uncountable billions, but you only need to be concerned with two."

"Two Aeons. Well, I still don't know what they are, but I suppose this is a start--wait a minute, you said I know them. Are Aeons people?"

Nephilim said nothing.

"Who are they?" Shion almost screamed.

"Well--"

And then she woke up.

"Grrrr!" Shion growled and punched her pillow, "that always happens!" It occurred to her that MOMO was sleeping in a bed two feet away from her, so she quieted down. She glanced at her clock. It was midnight on Second Miltia's capital.

"Only three hours of sleep." She mumbled and coughed. Her throat was parched. She reached for a bottle of water on her dresser that wasn't there.

"Grr." She growled again, and, accepting the fact that some greater power didn't want her to sleep right now, she decided to take a trip to the Elsa's bar for something to drink.

Yawning, she shuffled out of her bed and into the hallway. Her left hand flipped the nearest light switch. Nothing happened. She flipped it again. Still nothing. She stood there flipping the switch for a pathetic ten seconds before realizing the light would not turn on. Captain Mathews must have cut electrical power to save on life support (and money). Jerk.

Stumbling down the hallway, Shion managed to stub her toe four times before hopping into the bar holding her right foot and cursing in pain. She wobbled in the darkness towards the refrigerator, tripped on a stool, and finally came crashing down behind the counter, leaving a string of curses in her wake.

"Stupid steel archways!" She yelled as her face hit the floor, referring to the offending structures that damaged her toe, "why the hell are they in the hallway anyway?"

"I think they're needed to hold up the walls." A voice echoed around the bar.

Shion scrambled to her feet and peered over the counter. chaos was sitting at the bar's largest booth, facing a huge window that revealed a beautiful view of the universe. He seemed to be suppressing a fit of laughter.

"Hey." She mumbled, ignoring her throbbing toe. "What are you doing up so late?"

chaos shrugged, "I can't sleep."

She grabbed two bottles from the fridge and walked towards chaos's booth, carefully watching her every step.

"Here." She handed him a bottle and sat down next to him.

"Thanks." He smiled and made room for her. Maybe she was fatigued or perhaps the dim light was playing tricks on her eyes, but Shion swore she saw him blush as she sat down. Both of them had their backs to the door and were facing the window.

"Are you sure you're feeling better now?" He asked when he figured out she wasn't going back to bed. "You really should rest if you're tired."

She shook her head, "No, I'm fine. What about you? Why are you sitting at an empty bar in the middle of the night?" She suddenly realized she'd never properly thanked him for saving her life. Twice. Now was as good a time as ever...

"I just like it here. This window has a nice view." He responded.

For the first time in her life Shion felt a pinch of shyness. Saying 'thank you' appeared to be harder than she thought. Was it something you just blurted out of the blue?

She looked out the window. The stars were breathtaking, millions of white dots on a black canvas.

"How beautiful." She murmured, "They're really amazing."

chaos nodded, "Yeah, I love looking at the stars. They calm me down when I can't sleep."

"Calm you down?" She giggled. He was just about the most sedate person she had ever met. "You seem calm enough as is."

He chuckled, "I guess so. I just like to take it easy. But I still have trouble sleeping at night."

Shion's lips pouted in compassion, "Aw, that's no fun. I used to have insomnia too for a while--after Kevin died-- but," she searched her nightgown for a box of pills she usually kept when she slept, "I have some sedatives if you want, if I could just find them..."

"That's ok," he smiled, "sedatives don't really work on me." He gazed out the window, recognizing the clustered band of stars that made up an arm of the Milky Way.

Shion followed his gaze for a while, but then turned to look at him. His face was quiet and serious, as always, but she sensed a powerful sadness hiding behind his beautiful eyes. Tonight in particular he seemed incredibly worried about something.

"chaos," she stared into his eyes, trying hard to dismiss her quickening pulse, "is everything ok?"

At first he seemed startled by the question. He couldn't remember the last time someone asked him if everything was ok. As he turned to face her, he became mesmerized by her gaze. Her uncombed hair fell in thick locks around her face and the bags under her eyes were a telltale sign of restless sleep. Yet even exhausted as she was, her slender frame gave off an aura of energy and vitality. Shion's sheer will to live surged through her body like a dynamo and bowled over anybody who stood in her way. Allen had seen it on the Dammerung when she bluntly told him they were going to escape using "brute force." chaos had experienced her spunk for himself on the Ormus Stronghold, right after Cathedral trashed the E.S. Asher, and Shion vowed to unleash all the fires of hell on the Gnosis if it continued to bother them. He was almost uncontrollably drawn to her audacious spirit; it was the quality in her which he found most attractive.

"I just..." he began, "it feels like I have a huge responsibility on this ship. If anything happens to anybody here, I feel accountable. Like before, when we were retrieving the E.S. Asher, I was inputting the navigational commands and overriding the pilot's channel. Tony and Hammer are great, but they never would have been able to fly the Elsa so close to a black hole."

So he saved everyone again, Shion thought. It was no stroke of 'dumb luck' that the Elsa just happened to be traveling through a weak spot in the black hole's gravitational field. No wonder he had been typing furiously on the bridge.

"And if anyone gets hurt, it's my fault. I'm supposed to keep people safe around here. Sometimes I worry something horrible will happen, and I won't be able to save anyone. I got you out of the Ormus Stronghold, but it scares me to think about it... What if one day I fail, and I can't protect you..."

Shion's eyes widened.

"Guys." He said quickly afterwards, "what if I can't protect you guys?" He paused, almost on the verge of tears, "I don't know if I'd ever be able to forgive myself."

He noticed Shion was looking at him quite intently. Her gaze seemed to be penetrating him. He was surprised at himself for revealing so much; he rarely talked about his feelings. Feelings get in the way when you have secrets to keep.

He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and heard her speak, "You don't have to feel accountable for anything. If something happens to the people on this ship it certainly isn't your fault."

He smiled but didn't seem too convinced.

"chaos," she stifled a yawn, the fatigue was attacking her again, despite her racing heart, "what you did yesterday was... amazing. You alone are the reason I'm still here, and you don't need to worry. Everybody is fine. Everybody is fine because of _you_."

His expression softened, and something about his face made her heart flip.

"This fear you carry with you, it's not healthy." She looked up at him and her eyes blazed straight to his soul. "Don't burden yourself like that."

He was startled by her command. It never occurred to him that someone else may be concerned about his well-being. Yet here she was, her tired face glowing in the starlight, fighting sleep to console him. chaos had been coming to the Elsa's bar every night for a long time due to his insomnia, and he had always been alone. Tonight was the first time he had someone to share the stars with, and he found himself enjoying Shion's company more and more every second that ticked by.

He began talking to her, and she tried to pay attention. She really did. But she was having a very difficult time trying to keep her eyes open. It wasn't long before her head slumped against his shoulder. He simply smiled, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. He could smell her hair. His face reddened. Why bother trying to keep her awake?

Resting on chaos's shoulder, however, Shion discovered something interesting about herself. When she was on the verge of sleep, her inhibition disappeared.

"Thank you, chaos." She whispered. Her voice was soft and light, made sweet by the oncoming sleep. "For saving me yesterday. I thought you were wonderful. You're such a sweet person, so kind and selfless. You always put everybody else's safety in front of your own." She exhaled, and he could feel her breath on his neck, "I'm lucky to have stumbled on this ship with someone like you."

chaos almost hit the table. He was deeply moved by her confession, and an unknown force ignited within him and spread through his body like wildfire. He opened his mouth to say something after what seemed like forever, but her steady breathing told him she was already sleeping. Smiling, he put his arm around her neck to prevent her from rolling off his shoulder, and he lay back in his seat. For the first time in a long while, he felt truly at peace, and for the first time in an even longer while, he slept--under the twinkling glow of the stars, and calmed by Shion's soft breathing.

---

Shion awoke feeling comfortably warm. She stretched lazily to scratch her leg, but in doing so she felt an arm around her waist. Was Tony hitting on her again? Slowly she opened her eyes and found chaos's sleeping face three inches from her nose.

"Ah!" She yelped and all her blood rushed to her face. She struggled to get up but realized chaos had covered both of them with his jacket. His arm was resting over it. That explained the warmth.

"Well," she whispered to herself, after a vain attempt to crawl out of his jacket, "I could either get up and freeze, or I could stay here nice and warm, cuddled up with this adorable... gentlemen." A silly grin spread across her face and she snuggled back into chaos's embrace.

She could have sworn someone would have walked into the bar at that very moment. The doors slid open.

"Good, you're here." It was KOS-MOS. Her heels clicked underneath her on the hard floor as she walked towards Shion. "MOMO was worried about you. She said she didn't find you in your cabin. Everybody is looking for you. No, don't get up, it isn't a problem. I'll just tell them you're here sleeping with chaos."

Shion relaxed, then her face blanched.

"WAIT!" She hissed, "don't say it like that!--"

She never finished her sentence because Jr., Tony, and Captain Mathews stumbled into the bar looking tired and very hungry. They spotted Shion nestled in chaos's arms... lying down... under his jacket. Tony faked a shocked expression and turned to Jr., who covered his mouth with his hands. A half-second later they exploded in a fit of laughter.

"So that's what she means by 'resting.'" Jr. smirked.

"Hey Shion, you get to 'rest' with me tonight. chaos already had his turn." Tony giggled.

Shion was mortified. "It's not what you think!" She scowled, trying hard not to wake the boy sleeping next to her. She tried to explain, "I was just thirsty-"

"For some lovin'." Tony winked.

"--so I came here to get some water, and chaos was sitting here by himself, so I decided to--"

"Keep him company?"

"Yeah. NO! Not the way you think! We just sat here--"

"And made sweet, passionate love under the stars." Tony grinned. Jr. was doubled over with laughter.

Shion grabbed the bottle of water she had left on the table and prepared to hurl it at Tony's head, but her hand stopped in midair when the door slid open and Allen walked into the bar. He saw Shion and almost fell over.

"No!" She groaned in desperation, "Allen, it's not what you think!" She wiggled out of chaos's arms and bolted up, hitting her head on the table.

Allen staggered to his feet, "Shion," he babbled, "You. He. Here? You... you." He tripped and fell, hitting the counter and knocking over a stack of crystal glasses that shattered all over the floor.

"Quit your stupid crap." Mathews bellowed, "I'm hungry. Someone make me something to eat!" A droid rolled into the bar and began making breakfast.

Jr. and Tony's obnoxious laughter eventually woke chaos up. He sat up at the booth and yawned, looking surprised he had a good night's sleep. He turned to Shion and smiled.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked.

"Er..." She stuttered. Although she was dreadfully embarrassed, chaos didn't seem phased by the others. She decided to ignore them as well and smiled, "yeah. I feel great." She handed him his jacket, which had remained hanging over her shoulders.

After hearing the Captain's order for something to eat, MOMO, Jin, and Ziggy filed into the bar. Shion decided to change the subject and beat Tony to the punch before her brother started suspecting anything. The last thing she needed was for Jin to rip on her for... 'resting.' She ran over to the Elsa's pilot.

"Hey," she began, stomping on Tony's foot before he could open his mouth, "Why is it so cold in here?"

"Ow!" Tony grumbled, "What, you noticed it was freezing just now? Oh wait, that's right. You were snuggled up all warm and fuzzy in you lover's arms-"

Her foot came down again.

"OW!"

Jin mercifully paid no attention to Tony's comment.

"My ship is full of idiots." The Captain groaned. He walked over to the counter, shoving the droid out of the way, and began making breakfast himself. "Ok everyone." He yelled, "I'm calling a meeting."

"Huh?" A look of puzzlement crossed Tony's face, "Since when do we have meetings?" He grumbled, massaging his foot. Apparently the Captain was trying to enforce some kind of order on this flying circus.

"Since NOW!" Mathews scowled, "good, everybody is here right?" He paused, "Hammer! GET THE HELL IN HERE!" His voice was so loud Shion's ears rang.

The Elsa's navigator dragged himself into the bar, groggy with sleep.

"Good," the Captain began, throwing some batter on the stove, "I have a few announcements to make."

"Oooh, we have announcements now! Maybe the ship will get a toilet that actually flushes." Hammer giggled, elbowing Tony.

"Quiet moron! I'm serious! First of all, from now on their will be no fornicating in the Elsa's restaurant."

"I wasn't--" Shion began, but she noticed chaos laughing with the others. He winked at her.

"Calm down Ms. Vector, I was only kidding." Mathews was ready to throw all those present who were laughing off his ship.

"Actually," Hammer interrupted, "this isn't really a restaurant, it's technically classified as a bar--"

"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up? It's eight in the morning: too early for you to be a pain in the ass. Now..." The Captain looked around the room and faced his sleepy crew. Humans, a Realian, a cyborg, an android, a droid... the Elsa really was a circus.

"First," the Captain wiped dough from his hands and cleared his throat, "The Kukai Foundation is sending a vessel here to pick us up this afternoon. The Elsa will be taken into maintenance immediately afterwards, so I need everybody's crap outta here before that happens."

Random groans echoed around the bar. Everything except what was nailed to the ship's floor had to be transported out of the ship. Nobody looked forward to the manual labor.

"Next, I've taken the liberty to remove the E.S. Asher's hard drive." He produced a small disk, "this contains the information stored on the E.S.'s mainframe. I need someone to hold onto this who won't lose it within the next five minutes. Little Master, I assume you'll be in charge of this?"

Jr. nodded and took the disk from the Captain.

"Finally, and this is important, so unclog your ears Hammer. I don't know exactly what time the Kukai's ship is gonna get here. That means until then, we have to survive on life support. If any of you haven't noticed, I shut off the electricity and the heat to conserve energy in the event of an emergency."

"So that's why my nipples are diamonds." Hammer mumbled.

"QUIET! I thought the Elsa had enough supplies to last us at least a half day, but my pea-brained, scum bags of a crew never cease to amaze me. Since our very talented pilot enjoys taking twenty minute showers, we are currently experiencing a shortage of water. If all of you want to have drinking water available until our transport arrives, nobody will be allowed to shower from now until we're rescued."

"Are you serious?" Jin spoke up, "This is why you've called a meeting? My sister almost died last night and you assembled us here to tell us we can't shower?"

"Yeah," Jr. complained, "why should all of us be penalized? We're not barbarians. Hygiene ranks rather high on my list of priorities. If it's Tony's fault we have a water shortage, then he should be the one who doesn't shower."

"What!" Hammer looked terrified, "Do you have any idea how much he's gonna stink if he doesn't shower?"

"Hey!"

"Are we still arguing about showers?" Jin sighed, "Doesn't anybody care that the Captain just told us he doesn't know when we're going to be rescued?"

"It's always Tony's fault." Hammer grumbled, ignoring Jin.

Shion decided to take her revenge on the pilot, "As if we all don't know what it is he does in the shower for twenty minutes."

"What are you talking about?" Tony scowled, "It's none of your business which part of my body I wash for twenty minutes."

"I really don't care." The Captain growled, "All I know is that it's your fault there's a water shortage, so you should give up your twenty minutes for everyone else."

"If I may," KOS-MOS began. She must have thought the people on the Elsa had lost their minds, arguing about showers, "I believe I have a solution to your hygiene problem. If all of you can shower in less than four minutes, there will be enough water left in the Elsa to last us until the evening."

"What do you suggest we do?" The Captain asked, and then cursed because he realized he had burned the pancakes he had been trying to make.

"If each of you individually shower for thirty seconds, it won't affect the shortage of water. If you shower two at a time, water expenditure will be minimized."

"No way." Tony groaned, "you mean we're gonna have shower buddies?"

"It is the most efficient solution."

"Fine then." The Captain tossed a pan on the floor in frustration, "Everybody pair up." He glared at Tony, "Don't get any ideas. Shion's 'shower buddy' will be MOMO. I'm putting you with Hammer."

"WHAT!"

"Everyone meet me at the bathroom in half an hour. I'm going to release the water for four minutes, afterwards it will shut off automatically." Mathews looked at the brown pies he had meant to be pancakes. "Will someone who knows how to cook please make the goddamn breakfast!"

---

When you get caught up in a whirlwind adventure to exterminate the Gnosis and find the Original Zohar, Shion thought, your days can be pretty hectic. Some days you find yourself in the midst of bloody, gory battles, and the drama and horrors you experience can be enough to split your heart in two. Others are spent agonizing over the stupidest things. Days when the weight of your quest disappears from your shoulders and silliness reigns supreme. Today was one of them.

As Shion walked down the hallway towards the bathroom a half hour after she had made everybody breakfast, the scene she came upon almost made her drop her towel with laughter.

Everyone save Ziggy and KOS-MOS were lined up in front of the bathroom wrapped in either towels or bathing suits. Tony was wearing fuzzy bunny slippers. All the stress and anguish of the battles she fought yesterday seemed to evaporate at the sight of Jr. and Hammer jostling for first turn under the shower. She spotted chaos with nothing but a towel around his waist and began to sweat a little, in spite of the cold.

"Ok, I'm gonna start the water in a minute." Captain Mathews appeared at the other end of the hallway completely clothed, "I'm only gonna let it run for four minutes, if you people aren't fast enough, that's your problem."

"Aren't you going to shower too Captain?" MOMO seemed to be the only one who cared.

"I already did."

"Without a shower buddy?" Tony asked.

"Naturally. I'm the Captain. Now hurry up. The water should be starting any second now."

Hammer grabbed Tony and shoved Jr. out of the way. "Come on, bunny boy, if we go first we'll have more time."

"You stupid animals, don't you have any manners?" Mathews scowled, "Let the ladies go first. Did I hire a bunch of inconsiderate slobs?"

"But Shion got here last!" Tony whined.

Shion took MOMO's hand and strutted to the bathroom, grinning triumphantly at Tony. She had one foot in the doorway when a droid approached her from behind.

"Ms. Uzuki," it beeped, "You have a U.M.N.. call at the terminal. Someone from Vector wishes to speak to you."

"Perfect." She groaned, tightening the towel around her body, "MOMO go ahead, I'll be back in a minute. Who's the dumb jerk that wants to talk to me now right when I was about to..." Her voice faded as she stormed down the hall.

"Woo-hoo!" Hammer cheered, "she's gone! We don't have to pair up!"

---

Shion plopped herself down at the U.M.N.. Terminal. The identification number on her screen indicated that the call was coming from the Dammerung. She accepted it. It was Myuki.

"Shion!" The young girl on the other line squealed, "Thank goodness I reached you. Is everything all right? I heard something terrible happened to the Elsa yesterday, something about an organization called Ormus. Are you ok? Hey wait a minute, why are you wearing a towel? Is this a bad time?"

"No," Shion sighed, but she was happy Myuki had called, "No, everything is fine. I'm feeling better."

"We got the Elsa's emergency signal. I forwarded it to the Kukai Foundation because those Federation lazies will never rescue you in time. I think the Foundation sent the Durandal to pick you up."

"The Durandal? That's wonderful Myuki, thank you!"

"No problem. I wish that was all I had to tell you, but I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"What's wrong?"

"I thought I'd warn you in advance. The Director is absolutely livid that KOS-MOS is with you. He wants her back right away with a complete report explaining why she is in your possession again, with an apology."

Shion gulped. The Director was the head of Vector's First R & D Division, basically Shion's immediate superior. She had gotten on his nerves before when she had allowed KOS-MOS to act autonomously. Shion's escape from the Dammerung and theft of the E.S. Dinah probably didn't help either.

"Thanks Myuki. I was expecting the Director would go ballistic on me. I'll start filing a report out right away."

"Um... there's more."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the Director is especially mad at you because someone here has been going on and on about what an irresponsible engineer you are and how your position in Vector isn't deserved."

"Who?"

"Remember Harold what's-his-name from First Division? Lately he's been contacting the Director to tattle on you, and without you here to protect your reputation, well..."

"Harold! That idiot!" She remembered. Harold what's-his-name was on the programming team that developed KOS-MOS. During production of the android he had gone against every single one of Shion's suggestions. He wanted KOS-MOS to have no human emotions, very little logic drives, and a terribly aggressive disposition. Harold was part of the reason KOS-MOS went haywire two years ago and slaughtered the Vector employees. When Kevin was around, he put Harold in his place, but now...

"What a jerk! He's the guy who wanted KOS-MOS to be a weapon of mass destruction. Why is he spreading dirt about me?" Shion was indignant.

Even in the static of the U.M.N. Terminal, Shion could tell Myuki was reluctant to speak.

"Tell me Myuki."

"He wants your job, Shion."

Shion's blood ran cold.

"He wants you fired and out of the way so..." Her voice trailed off.

"So... What?"

"So he can have complete control of KOS-MOS."

"NO!" Shion's fist came down hard on the terminal, almost breaking the connection, "Myuki he can't! He's going to rip her apart and turn her into a monster! After all of my--after all of our _work_ on her! You have to stop him! Tell the Director I'm a damn good Chief Engineer and--"

"I already did. I told him you and KOS-MOS were responsible for the Proto Merkhaba incident and that you would return KOS-MOS with the report to Vector's Second Division with all due speed."

Shion sighed, "Thank you Myuki. You're wonderful. Is there any way we can stop Harold I-don't-give-a-damn-what-his-last-name-is before he destroys everything the team at First Division worked so hard to create?"

"If you can get enough people to tell the Director that Harold is full of it, then I'm sure you'll be safe. A few people here at First Division are vouching for you already, but a lot of them are afraid of Harold. Apparently he has dirt on just about everybody." Myuki grinned. "He's gonna hate it when he finds out I told you about his plot to get you fired."

"Oh, he better pray he gets relocated from the Dammerung because once I get there I'm going to kick his ass so bad!"

"You go girl. Just know that a lot of us are sticking our necks out for you, so..."

"Of course. I'll get that report done immediately. Thank you so much. You're saving my skin, Myuki." Shion glanced at the clock on the terminal's screen. Three minutes had elapsed.

"Oh my God! I have to shower! Don't mind me Myuki, just tell the folks at Kukai to rescue us soon before I'm told I can't use the bathroom anymore."

"Sure thing Shion, good luck. Remember that apology in the report!"

Shion nodded and was about to disconnect, but a thought suddenly crossed her mind, "Wait a second Myuki. This is totally off topic, but do you have any idea what an Aeon is?"

Myuki's brow wrinkled, "I thought an Aeon was an eternal amount of time. Why do you ask?"

"That's what I thought too. No, I was just wondering. Could you check Vector's database for any information about Aeons, please?"

"Um, sure. I'll e-mail you anything I find as soon as I can, but I really should get off the U.M.N. now. I have to pretend I'm working here." She laughed.

"Ok, thanks a million."

"Don't worry about it. And you tell Harold to go get a life. Nobody here wants to see you fired."

Shion smiled and disconnected. She glanced at the clock and darted down the hall towards the bathroom.

---

Captain Mathews started running the water a little later than was planned, so Shion figured she still had a t least a minute to shower. She stormed towards the bathroom, fuming over the information Myuki had revealed to her.

"Chief!" Allen called to her. He began running frantically toward her.

"Not now Allen." She grumbled. She noticed there was no line leading to the bathroom. Everyone must have showered already.

"Chief, hold on!" He scrambled up to her.

"Allen, please, now is not the time." She paused, "actually..." She grabbed his shoulders and spun him around. "Listen," she barked at him, "I just got off the U.M.N. with Myuki. She told me Harold Assface is planning to get me fired."

"But I thought his name was Harold Aster-"

"Well now he's called Harold Assface! Anyway I need you to call the Director this instant and tell him what a wonderful Chief Engineer I am, how I'm always responsible and considerate and all that crap, and you need to convince him not to fire me. As for Mr. Assface, tell the Director he's mentally unstable and should be put into an insane asylum immediately."

"Um, ok, but--"

"Not now. I have to shower." She headed for the bathroom.

"No, Chief wait!" But she had already disappeared.

She entered the Elsa's bathroom in a fit of anger. The nerve of that Harold guy! Her flesh crawled when she thought about what he might do to KOS-MOS if he had the power. She had never liked him.

The water running in the shower. Good, she still had time. She walked over to the shower and yanked back the curtain...

"Oh my God!" She screamed and jumped back three feet.

There was chaos.

All of him.

He wiped the soap suds from his face, "Need something?" he asked, completely calm.

Shion could barely get the words out, "I-I-I'm so sorry. I-I had no idea!" She scrambled backwards and tripped on chaos's towel (she had failed to notice it when she walked in).

"I'm really, really, really sorry!" Her face was redder than a ripe tomato. She bolted out of the bathroom shooting out a string of apologies behind her.

Darting into the hallway, Shion met mass hysteria on deck. Jr. was on the floor crying of laughter, and Tony had to hold his knees to prevent from falling over. Jin merely shook his head in disbelief, but she could tell he had been howling with laughter like the rest of them. Even Ziggy was chuckling.

"No-nobody told me!" She yelled. Her face crimson with embarrassment.

"Actually I tried to warn you--" Allen began.

"Are you still here!" She roared, "Go call the Director!"

Allen scampered towards the U.M.N. Terminal. Shortly after chaos emerged from the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. He met a barrage of cheers and whistles from the males on deck.

"It's all yours." He said smiling. Droplets of water trickled down his face. Shion avoided eye contact out of shame, and walked meekly into the bathroom.

"Idiots!" Captain Mathews appeared across the hall to find out what all the commotion was about. His face was as red as Shion's, but with anger. "Get back to work!"

Tony and Hammer ran for bridge faster than Shion had seen any man move in her life.

She apologized profusely to chaos, but he just laughed.

"You know," he said, "out of all the people on this ship that could have walked in on me, I'm glad it was you."

Shion almost hit the floor. She remembered when he had winked at her earlier in the bar. Was he flirting with her!

She hustled into the bathroom without saying anything, but the blush on her face gave her away.

"I can't believe it." She grumbled once her head was safely under the cool water of the shower. "Yesterday I almost died, and today I've been accused of... of fornicating on a booth! Then I walk in on chaos while he's showering--not that I mind--but now I'm never gonna here the end of it! And on top of everything I could get fired!" She stopped herself. It was all inconsequential. Febronia's sisters... A day had passed and she still hadn't made it to Old Miltia, and here she was. Having fun.

Before Shion could begin complaining again, the water above her abruptly shut off, right after she had lathered her hair with shampoo.

"You're kidding me!" She moaned as the shampoo dripped down her face and stung her eyes. She stormed out of the shower, almost forgetting her towel, and headed for the bridge.

"Captain Mathews." she whined once she entered the bridge. MOMO showed compassion for her. As for the other members of the crew...

"Oh my God," Jr. groaned, "I've laughed so much my sides hurt!"

"I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. Look at her hair! She looks like the Wicked Witch of the West." Tony fell out of his seat in hysterics.

Shion skulked, but she noticed chaos laughing heartily too. She had never seen him laugh like that before.

"Captain, would you mind giving me another twenty seconds of water? For obvious reasons?" She begged.

The Captain concealed a chuckle. He had never seen such happiness on his deck before. His crew members were practically dying of laughter.

"All right Ms. Vector. But it's coming out of your drinking water."

Shion thanked him, and, mustering up the little dignity she had left, she waltzed out of the bridge, leaving a trail of shampoo suds in her wake.

chaos watched her leave and smiled. He wondered what KOS-MOS thought of all of them now, laughing hysterically over a bit of shampoo. Humans were so intelligent, capable of creating Realians, KOS-MOS, and Faster Than Light travel, but at the same time they could be so... nuts. Totally nuts. He was happy Shion was able to enjoy herself today: laughing and poking fun at her friends. Even though she was the butt of most of the crew's jokes, chaos could tell she hadn't had this much fun in a while. She deserved a day free of fighting and full of laughter. It would be her last humorous day for a long time.

---

Allen sat at the Elsa's U.M.N. Terminal and dialed Vector's First Division switchboard.

"Hello, operator?" He said when a young secretary appeared on the screen in front of him, "I would like to speak to the Director, please. Thank you." There was a pause, then:

"Hello Director. This is Allen Ridgley from the KOS-MOS development team. Yes. I wish to speak to you about Shion Uzuki, the current Chief Engineer. That's right, this call is regarding her behavior. I'm afraid I have some bad news...

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I dare leave a cliff hanger! Upon rereading this chapter I thought of naming it 'Star Gazing' or 'Shower Fun' or some other corny thing like that, but I'll leave it up to one of you. Behold my ingenious plan for reader involvement!...

I forgot to mention this before, but when I finally did manage to connect to the web in sunny Italy, I was floored by all the wonderful reviews I received. Thanks for all of your support! The next chapter will be dedicated to all you chaosxShion fans.

Input is appreciated, R/R.


	3. Chapter 3

Yay! I finally updated! Sorry it took so long, but I actually have a part-time job now (read: I am in desperate need of cash) so I haven't been able to write as often as I would like to. However, this chapter definitely does not suffer from lack of words–it's twice as long as the other two.

First I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this fic. You guys are awesome, and you keep me writing! Now that I have some free time, I might read and review some of your fics, so watch out (muahahahah)!

You're not interested in my mindless ramblings, so here ya go.

Disclaimer: I don't own Xenosaga Episode I. Or II. Or the Japanese anime, or the CD. And just to be sure I doubt I'll own the future episodes III, IV, V, and VI.

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Borne Up on Angel Wings

Chapter 3

---

Tony sat at the Elsa's controls biting his nails. He had wanted to drop the habit for a while now, but he couldn't help himself when he was really nervous. His eyes darted around the bridge. Good, it wasn't just him. Everyone looked a little jittery. MOMO had that concerned look she always had on her face; Shion's arms were folded tightly across her chest; Allen looked nauseous; the Captain was even more cranky than usual... Nobody said a word.

Aside from the Captain, Jr. was the only one who seemed both apprehensive and angry. He paced around the bridge making everyone around him antsy until his fist finally came down on Shion's monitor, making her jump.

"I don't understand!" He yelled, piercing the silence like a gunshot, "the Durandal should be here by now. What's taking them so long?"

"Calm down, Jr." Jin said. He sat in his chair with his arms folded and his head slightly bowed, "getting angry won't make the Durandal get here any faster."

"Don't tell me to calm down." Jr. snapped, "it's ten thirty. The Durandal was supposed to pick us up hours ago. And I'm thirsty as hell."

The Captain couldn't help himself, "I told you not to shower."

"Come on guys." Shion muttered. She sighed deeply, as if she were releasing pent up pressure inside of her. "Cool it. Can't we contact the Durandal through the U.M.N.?"

Jr. gritted his teeth. He thought he had explained this already. "No." He started out icily, but then his voice softened. It wasn't Shion's fault the Durandal hadn't arrived yet. "We can't contact the Durandal if it's in hyperspace."

"Well," Shion's voice swelled with optimism, "if it's in hyperspace it means it's on its way."

'Yeah, well, it's been in hyperspace for six hours.' Jr. thought to himself. Surely it would be here by now. The Elsa wasn't that far from the Kukai Foundation.

He started pacing again, but a beeping noise stopped him in his tracks.

"What's that?" He asked hopefully.

MOMO investigated the blinking light on her screen, "I'm not sure." A few seconds went by as she brought up a graph on her monitor, "it's not the Durandal though. Whatever it is it didn't gate out of hyperspace, and it's not showing any signs of having ever been in hyperspace." She paused a bit more, "Um. That's strange. It's not broadcasting any signal. All spacecraft emit some form of radio waves. And... it's really big."

A thought crossed Shion's mind that made her skin crawl.

"Is it a Gnosis?" She asked, already sounding afraid. If another Gnosis like Cathedral attacked the Elsa now, it would be all over. They had no defenses, no functioning weapons, and no way out.

"Negative." KOS-MOS answered her. A collective sigh echoed around the bridge. "I've not detected any Gnosis for several astronomical units. Where is the object in question?"

MOMO read off the coordinates from her computer.

KOS-MOS analyzed the UFO, then, "It appears to be a meteor in orbit around the closest star. It's composed mostly of nickel, with some iron." She paused, almost surprised herself by the information she had just uncovered. "The meteor is approximately one mile long in diameter."

Hammer's eyes bulged out of their sockets, the meteor appeared on his screen too, "That's a big rock."

Shion was afraid what the answer would be to her next question, "KOS-MOS, is there a chance that meteor could hit us?"

"Affirmative. It is on a collision course with the Elsa." The android responded with frightful accuracy. She was not one to mince words.

Wonderful, Shion thought. It was about time things started going dangerously wrong again. The hilarity from Shion's visit with chaos in the shower had long since evaporated. Everyone was tired and nervous--not a desirable condition to be in when faced with a crisis.

Allen stated the obvious, "Wait a minute. If that meteor hits us... How fast is it going?"

"The Elsa will crumple like cardboard." Mathews grumbled. "There is no way my ship can survive a collision with an iron meteor the size of twenty city blocks. It's speed is irrelevant."

Allen's foot began tapping nervously, "Our Logical Drive is busted though. We can't gate in!"

The Captain was losing his patience, "If we had the ability to gate in, don't you think we would have hauled butt out of here a long time ago!"

Allen slumped, "And the Elsa's thrusters?"

"Gone. Tony blew them when we escaped the black hole's gravitational field."

"We must have some options!" Shion cried exasperated. "Are you telling me the Elsa can't move at all?"

The Captain said nothing. An ominous quiet fell upon the bridge.

"Rear thrusters." chaos spoke up suddenly. All heads turned to him.

"The Elsa's rear thrusters are still functional."

The Captain scowled. Rear thrusters were used mainly to align the Elsa with docking platforms. Flying quickly in reverse generally proved to be impractical in space, so by their very nature rear thrusters weren't very powerful. He doubted they could move the Elsa out of the meteor's path.

"Their engines aren't that fast." Hammer said, as if reading the Captain's mind, "will they get us out of the meteor's way in time?"

"Do we have any other options?" chaos asked with startling simplicity.

The Captain considered. They had to try something. Floating around in their current location was suicide.

"Tony." He barked, "Activate the Elsa's rear thrusters."

Shion braced herself for the initial inertia that accompanied every spacecraft's takeoff from a resting position, but it never came.

"Are we even moving?" She asked.

"The thrusters are on at full power." Tony told her, "we're inching backward."

"Wow," Shion sighed, "those things are slow."

"MOMO," Jr. asked, "can you get an image of the meteor up on the bridge's main screen?"

The Realien punched in a few commands on her computer and a hologram of the rock appeared above the Captain's head. It whirled about slowly in space. Even as a hologram, the meteor looked big.

"How much time until impact?" Shion asked KOS-MOS.

"It is difficult to deduce exactly. The vectors of the meteor as well as those of the Elsa keep changing. I would say approximately two minutes until impact."

As if by magic, all heads snapped up to look through the Elsa's front window. Sure enough, a large rock appeared dead ahead of them in the distance. It would be a head-on collision.

"Tony," KOS-MOS began, "if you steer the Elsa to the right, we may be able to evade the meteor entirely."

Tony shifted the Elsa to the right.

"We're going backwards Tony!" The Captain screamed, "turn left on the wheel if you want to go right!... Idiot."

"My bad." He muttered, leaning hard to his left. He forced himself to concentrate and fought the urge to bite his nails. The Elsa banked left ever so slightly. Shion could barely feel the ship changing direction.

"Turn harder." KOS-MOS commanded, but she sounded worried. Strange. Worry was not an emotion Shion remembered programming in her, for practical reasons. "The meteor is slightly changing course. It's veering left."

Tony leaned left as far as the ship could turn. The Elsa was definitely turning now, but progress was still painfully slow.

"Here it is." chaos pointed to something on his screen. Shion, Jin, and Jr. wandered over to him and peered over his shoulder. They saw an image of the Elsa in the center of chaos's screen. Two black holes were behind the ship, and the meteor was racing in front of it, towards the black holes. It became clear now. The meteor had been orbiting around a star, but the black holes were pulling it off course. Unfortunately, the Elsa was in its path.

"The meteor is accelerating due to the black holes' gravitational fields." KOS-MOS explained. "Half a minute until impact."

Shion's head snapped up again. An enormous gray structure filled the Elsa's front window. Up close the meteor looked like a gigantic metal wall hurtling through space, about to smack the Elsa.

"We're moving too slow!" MOMO screamed, "we're not going to make it!"

Shion tried to ignore her words but MOMO was right. There was no way the Elsa would get away in time, and the rear thrusters were burning at full power."

"Ten seconds until impact!"

Shion gripped chaos's chair in fear. Death was certain now. Alarms began blaring from the Elsa's monitors. Blinking red lights cast an eerie glow all around the bridge. The meteor was going to hit them... smash them into nothingness by its sheer mass. Shion's paralyzing fear bothered her. She instinctively grabbed chaos's hand for support. Her voice came out in a scared whisper:

"chaos, I-"

She never finished her sentence. A blinding ray of blue light erupted from behind the Elsa and went sailing above the ship's hull. A hundred thousand blue lasers followed, colliding with the meteor in the most amazing display of fireworks Shion had ever seen. The gargantuan rock sizzled red at first and then exploded. Flying shards of nickel tore across deep space in all directions. Hundreds of tiny rocks pelted the Elsa, banging against the ship's hull and rendering its passengers almost deaf from the earsplitting bombardments.

When the pandemonium finally stopped, Shion mustered enough courage to open an eye. The Captain decided not too. He didn't want to know what the exterior of his ship looked like right now. A meteor exploded only yards away: the Elsa must be scratched up beyond repair! Since he decided to keep his eyes shut, Shion was the one who shouted with joy when a rather large spacecraft flew into view.

"The Durandal!" Her arms flew around chaos's neck with glee. The huge, red, spacecraft floated a half mile away from the Elsa, it's angel wings twirling lazily around it. The Durandal's powerful lasers had just blasted the meteor out of existence.

The Captain's throat was dry, but he managed to speak, "Hammer. Open up a communication link."

Hammer's fingers flew over his keyboard and Mary's face appeared on the Elsa's main screen. The Captain was about to yell something, but Jr. beat him to the punch:

"IT'S ABOUT FRIGGIN' TIME YOU GOT HERE!"

---

"Ok," Hammer said, pulling a lever beside the Elsa's entrance, "we're safely docked. You can walk out now." The Elsa's main doors slid open with a hiss, and Shion stepped out into the Durandal's huge dock.

"Hi y'all." Mary was there to greet them. "I'm glad y'all are ok. We raced to get you as soon we got your distress signal, but all the U.M.N. columns were very busy."

"How come?" Jr. stepped out of the Elsa, followed by the remaining passengers.

"Well, something big is going on at Old Miltia. The Federation is making a rowdy fuss about it, but nobody knows what's going on. All I know is that hyperspace was clogged with a fleet of Federation ships rushing towards Old Miltia."

"They'll spill their guts soon." Jr. said calmly, "the Federation holds a press conference every time a criminal so much as farts."

"Not this time," Mary sounded worried, "the military is involved, and their lips are sealed. The space around Old Miltia is restricted, and the Federation is arresting anybody who comes close to the planet."

"Well, that's a problem." Shion muttered. She tried to process the information slowly, to avoid panicking. Whatever the Federation's big secret was, Shion was positive it had something to do with Feb's sisters and the Zohar.

"We need to get to Old Miltia as fast as possible." Jr. told Mary.

"Now how'd I know you were going to say that?" Mary smiled. "We've been ordered to repair the Elsa ASAP, but we don't have the right equipment on the Durandal. We have to go back to the Foundation."

Shion sighed. More delays. "Are you sure you can't fix the Elsa here?" She asked. "It's rather urgent."

Mary took a quick look at the Elsa, "Definitely not. What did you do to that ship anyway? Didn't Captain Mathews just have it remodeled?"

"Yes." The Captain answered her wearily. "I'm going to be in debt for the rest of my life, but the Elsa's gotta be ready by tomorrow."

"Will do." Mary smiled, "Shelly's piloting the Durandal back to the Foundation right now. You guys look exhausted though. We have a bunch of free cabins in the Residential Area. Feel free to rest up."

Shion thanked her and headed for the Durandal's transport train. She felt terribly guilty for allowing three days to elapse without reaching Old Miltia yet, and the worst part was that she had no control over the situation. Once again, there was nothing she could do but rest.

"Tomorrow, Nephilim." Shion whispered as she boarded the train, "Tomorrow I'll save your sisters. Please forgive me."

The train jolted forward and sped to the other side of the Durandal. Shion got out at the Residential Area, found an empty cabin, and collapsed into its bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

---

_He was crucified and died, so that all sins could be forgiven._

-

_And so it came to pass, the Zohar gave birth to mankind._

-

_When God cast Lucifer into Hell, his evil seeped into the One World and became the Operating System for existence._

-

_Her flesh was crafted by mankind, and His pain released her from her sins and earthly bonds. Her resolve conquered Lucifer's evil._

-

_He sacrificed himself to the Zohar, and Lost Jerusalem was reborn._

_-_

"Where?..." Shion stood in a dark room. Then it all came back to her. The lab. Her colleagues at Vector. The quiet black container that looked so much like a coffin. Strange hooded men had entered without permission. 'This isn't right,' she thought, 'they are not observing protocol. This area is restricted to Vector engineers.'

One man, adorned in a blue cloak, approached the coffin. 'No! She isn't ready yet. Stay back!' The coffin opened. There she was: spindly, not yet finished. Inhuman. Her eyes showed no emotion. Her face expressionless. She was created to kill...created to kill.

She pounced. Shion witnessed one of her fellow Vector engineers be murdered in the most gruesome way possible. The hooded man in blue looked confused–didn't he know she was not ready? What was he thinking?

Blood gushed from the room in crimson streams. She slashed the existence out of anyone who stood in her path. Soldiers fell before her–holes gored into their bodies. She vaporized a fighter jet, deflected lasers, crumpled missiles. She was unstoppable. She had no feeling, no morals, no instincts. What had Vector created? What had _Shion_ created? Something that preformed unspeakable horrors...

She advanced, eyes red and cold. Shion screamed–fear, panic, terror enveloped her. Paralyzed her. She felt a warmth and hit the floor. Kevin. He shielded her with his body. Protected her.

KOS-MOS didn't blink, didn't flinch, didn't utter a sound as she drove a sharp, spinning drill into Kevin's abdomen. It was as automatic and natural as breathing.

Shion's world crumbled and shattered into an incoherent mess of blood and screams. She couldn't feel, couldn't see, couldn't think straight. She only heard screams. Screams that reverberated around the room and in her head. Screams that she realized were her own. In the midst of all the destruction, Kevin grabbed her hand and whispered, "Don't worry. This is what's supposed to happen. This is what we wanted, Shion."

What was he talking about? She didn't want this. He was dying! His blood was soaking her. The horror! She fought the urge to vomit, and now acted upon the only instinct that still worked within her–the desire to survive. The drive to live.

She unsnapped Kevin's gun from its holster. It too was covered in his blood. She aimed it at KOS-MOS. Tears streaming down her face, her voice was choked and hollow.

"KOS-MOS, why?" She whispered.

She squeezed the trigger. The gun erupted with such force that Shion's arms snapped backward. A searing sound of metal on metal pierced the lab, then KOS-MOS's head exploded. Debris flew everywhere. Shards of burnt metal mixed with blood. Kevin lay dying on Shion's lap. And the screams, the horrifying screams...

—

"Aaaahh!" Shion tumbled out of bed and hit the floor in a cold sweat. The lights in her cabin flashed on automatically. For a moment she lay on the floor, too terrified to move; then she slowly crawled back into bed.

'Just a dream.' She thought. A horrible one, but still just a dream. Nightmares of KOS-MOS's accident and Kevin's subsequent death haunted her frequently in the months after Kevin's funeral, but as time went by they recurred less and less. Strange that she would have one of those nightmares now, over two years after Kevin's death.

Something else bothered her though. Before her nightmare began, in the dream-like state between consciousness and sleep, she'd received five cryptic messages–probably from Nephilim– and had no idea what any of them meant, if they were related, or if they had something to do with the accident two years ago. Knowing Nephilim, she wouldn't reveal those answers anytime soon, if at all. Rummaging through the contents of the cabin's dresser, Shion made it a priority to copy down all the messages on paper now when they were still fresh in her head. Too tired to make sense of any of them at the current hour, she decided to sleep on it and inquire about them tomorrow.

—

"Shion, wake up." Jin banged on the door of her cabin.

Shion groggily got out of bed and flipped a switch. The cabin's door slid open and Jin walked in.

"It's 11:30, Shion. The others want to know where you are. Why are you still in bed?"

Shion stumbled towards a mirror and tried to tame her wild locks, "Sorry. I didn't sleep well last night." She remembered the messages she had scrawled down after her nightmare, and she quickly pocketed them.

"The Elsa's been damaged pretty badly. You wanted to go to Old Miltia didn't you?" Jin asked her.

"Yes. It's very important. How long will it take for the Elsa to be repaired?"

He shrugged, "Mary said about two days–maybe longer. The Logical Drive has to be replaced."

Shion wheeled around. She couldn't afford to lose anymore time. Two days were too much, she'd already delayed her trip to save Feb's sisters far longer than she'd expected.

"I can't wait that long," she told him, "Is there any other ship that can take us to Old Miltia?"

Jin shook his head, "I doubt it. The Federation has already declared Old Miltia off-limits to civilians. Apparently something of grave importance is occurring on that planet, but nobody has any information. If we were to go there we'd have to beak Federation law. Captain Mathews is the only captain who is willing to do that. I'm afraid the Elsa is our only choice."

Shion pursed her lips, "Can't the Durandal take us there?"

"No. It would be unwise to place all of the lives on this ship in danger."

"So...What are we supposed to do for two days? Feb's sisters need me, Nephilim said they're in trouble."

"Has Nephilim contacted you since you left the Dammerung?"

Shion paused, trying to remember. "Yeah. Twice when I was on the Ormus Stronghold and every time I fall asleep."

"Did she express concern or anger at the fact that you haven't reached Old Miltia yet?"

"Well...No, she told me not to worry."

Jin smiled, a rare occurrence, "Then you should do just that. All things happen for a purpose, Shion. Maybe your trip to Old Miltia has been delayed for a reason. Try to use the two days you have to accomplish something important."

Shion's mind flashed again on the messages. Would two days be enough time to decode them?

"Think about that." Jin continued, "Everyone else is at the beach. We can't go anywhere for two days, so don't start feeling guilty if you have some fun. It'd be best if you relax and recharge while you're here, since there will probably be a lot of fighting once we reach Old Miltia." Jin turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I thought I'd join the others at the beach."

Shion raised her eyebrows, "_You're_ going to the beach?" She sounded incredulous.

"Yes. I'm not anti-social you know. You should probably come too. Breathe some almost-fresh air."

"Maybe I'll come down in a little while."

"Alright. You should definitely join us, though. The others are eager to see you." He paused, "especially chaos." He turned and left a wide-eyed Shion standing motionless in her cabin; her mouth hung open.

—

As far as space colonies go, the Kukai Foundation was Shion's favorite. Few others were able to mimic the light of the sun using enormous incandescent light panels, and even fewer had an ocean with a working ecosystem. It still amazed Shion how far man had gone into artificially creating the environments of life-sustaining planets. There had probably been a beach on Lost Jerusalem just like the one here at the Kukai Foundation.

As Shion rounded a corner and felt soft sand beneath her feet, she spotted her friends by the shore playing volleyball. They had even managed to get Ziggy to play.

"Hi guys." She said, dragging a beach chair behind her. She had no intention of playing volleyball now–she had a lot of work to catch up on, especially if she didn't want to be fired.

Jr. turned around and waved at her. He did a double-take when he saw her scantily clad in a very revealing bikini, and, elbowing chaos hard in the ribs, he began to whistle obnoxiously. Allen was so intrigued by Shion's attire he didn't notice when the volleyball smashed against his face.

"You children are such gentlemen." Shion raised her voice above the masculine cheers, "Sorry but I'm in no mood for games today–Allen stop drooling–I have a lot of work to do." She pulled out her communicator, "You should search elsewhere if your looking for young girls to bounce around and play volleyball with."

The boys assaulted her with loud booing.

"You're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, Shion." Jin quipped.

"I have work to do!"

—

"Man, this is boring." Shion moaned. Vector had left her a substantial amount of work regarding the programming of KOS-MOS, but since the events on the Woglinde (which to her seemed like years ago), Shion didn't have any time to file a single report. She was currently typing sluggishly on her computer, differentiating integrals and the like. As Chief Engineer of Vector's First Division, it was Shion's responsibility to debug KOS-MOS's aggressive neural processor–the part of KOS-MOS's A.I. that caused her to battle and act, well...aggressively. An error in the debugging could result in a catastrophe not unlike the incident two years ago that ended with the death of dozens of Vector employees. The Director of First Division had failed to tell Shion, however, that the debugging process was incredibly boring, inefficient, and time-consuming. Such was the agony of the aggressive neural processor debugging that Shion hurled her communicator on the sandy banks of the Kukai Foundation's beach twenty minutes after she had begun working.

"Stupid aggressive neural processor." She grumbled, "Hey KOS-MOS." She called out. The android, who had been monitoring the game of volleyball with unusual curiosity, turned around.

"Yes, Shion?"

"Would you ever walk on to a busy street and slaughter innocent bystanders?"

KOS-MOS blinked. She wasn't programmed to respond well to sarcasm.

"No Shion, that would be illogical. I cannot cogitate a scenario in which the slaughter of innocent people would be desirable."

Shion seemed to ponder that statement for a while.

"Good enough." She said, "Your aggressive neural processor is fine. There's no need to debug it."

Content with the fact that she had done a good day's work, Shion flopped down on her beach chair and decided to sunbathe. Conscientious distraction–a term her brother used often–was a method by which a person did not think directly about his or her problems with the goal of relaxing the brain and therefore allowing it to arrive to the solutions by itself. That was what Shion had in mind. Worrying too much about Feb's sisters, or the Zohar, or the Aeons, or being fired, or the blossoming feelings she felt for chaos would soon result in a nervous breakdown. Better for her to tune the world out for now. She'd need all the energy she could muster to tackle all the problems fate was about to throw at her.

"Hey Shion!" Jr. called, "wanna play volleyball? We're going to start another game soon."

"Sorry, but I'm working." She called out as she lay tanning on her beach chair with her communicator seven feet away from her.

"Oh, my bad." Jr. spat. "I suppose you have nothing better to do?"

Shion suddenly remembered Nephilim's cryptic messages, "Uh, actually yeah. Just a minute guys, I'll play volleyball in a while." She jumped out of her chair, retrieved her communicator, and pulled out the slip of paper which contained the messages. Before going to the beach, she had stuffed the paper in the elastic waistband of her bikini since she had neglected to bring a purse. The sudden removal of something from her underwear caused a fit of laughter from the men playing volleyball. Shion chose to ignore.

She sat down on her chair and looked at the first message:

_He was crucified and died, so that all sins could be forgiven._

Shion had studied enough Ancient History in her schooling years to know what that sentence referred to. During the first two millennia of mankind's existence, the religion known as Christianity was the most prevalent. The sentence alluded to the most significant event in Christian scripture: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, or the messiah–the Savior–, who claimed to be the son of God. He sacrificed himself so that all men's sins could be forgiven, and, if Shion remembered correctly, he rose from the dead after three days, and was currently seated at the "right hand of the Father," and his followers would wait in joyful hope for his Second Coming (the apocalypse) in which he would judge the righteous from the wicked, and cast the latter into hell, while bringing the former with him into Paradise.

It was a religion. An old religion, but with a beautiful story, as far as religions of that time were concerned. So earth-shatteringly significant was the crucifixion of the Christ that the calendar of the civilized world adopted that date as the beginning of modern time: A.D., _anno domini_–the year if the Lord. What Shion didn't know was what the event of an ancient religion had to do with the Aeons, or the Zohar, or with anything since the disappearance of Lost Jerusalem. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'at least I know what Nephilim is talking about. Maybe after I look at the other messages it'll all make sense. What about the next one?'

_And so it came to pass, the Zohar gave birth to mankind._

Huh? This appeared to have some other religious overtone, with the creation of man and all, but the statement seemed pretty straightforward: the Zohar created humans. Shion had no idea what to make of it. If the statement were true, its philosophical and moral implications were enormous. Did that mean the Zohar was an entity? Or was it merely a tool used by God to breathe consciousness into humans? If God even existed. Not many people believed in God anymore.

'This is going well. I haven't accomplished anything." She looked at the next message, hoping it would shed some light on the first two.

_When God cast Lucifer into Hell, his evil seeped into the One World and became the Operating System for existence._

So much for that idea. Again the message waxed religious. Calling upon her knowledge of Christian scripture once more, Shion remembered that Lucifer was the Devil, who used to be heaven's most beautiful angel until he rebelled against God and was subsequently banished to hell. She didn't remember anything about his evil seeping into the One World. What was the One World anyway?

By sheer accident, Shion's gaze fell to her communicator. She was currently logged on to the U.M.N.. She paused, looked at the message, then looked back at her communicator. U.M.N.: Unus Mundus Network. Unus Mundus...One World. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets. Could it really be that simple? That meant that according to the message, Lucifer somehow entered the Unus Mundus, but what was the Operating System? A thought entered her head, and a chill raked her flesh.

"Jr." She called out, "What does U-DO stand for?"

The young boy whirled around, "I thought we were trying to relax, Shion, are these the kind of things you think about on your down time? You must be the life of the party..." He seemed angry that she had interrupted their brief respite from the real world. "Anyway, U-DO stands for something like Unus Mundus Operating System."

Shion reeled. If she followed through the analogy, then Lucifer–the Devil–was U-DO. Again, these revelations were earth-shattering, but what did they mean? It seemed to her that these messages were nothing more than the ranting and raving of an unstable mind. Was she supposed to take this message seriously? That Lucifer's evil was poisoning the Unus Mundus? That the Zohar created all life? There was still no coherence to any of this information.

_Her flesh was crafted by mankind, and His pain released her from her sins and earthly bonds. Her resolve conquered Lucifer's evil._

Wow. Shion didn't even know where to start. She was about to skip right to the last message without bothering to decipher this one, but something in the back of her head made her reconsider the first clause: _Her flesh was crafted by mankind_...What kind of flesh does mankind craft? Clones? Realiens? Androids? Cyborgs? Shion held her breath. Androids...KOS-MOS...KOS-MOS's flesh was crafted by mankind, but what about her resolve to conquer Lucifer's evil? If Lucifer was U-DO...Shion remembered the vision she has seen of KOS-MOS battling U-DO in space sometime in the future. It made about as much sense as any of the other messages, but the second clause had her totally lost. _His pain released her from her sins and earthly bonds_. Was the "His" referring to Jesus?

"This isn't making any sense." Shion grumbled, too tired to analyze the last message. She allowed her mind to wander, and her gaze fell upon her friends playing volleyball. She wondered if she should fill them in on Nephilim's recent visit. Jr., MOMO, KOS-MOS, Allen, Ziggy, her brother,...chaos, all of them had been through think and thin together. She had accomplished more with them by her side then she would have ever hoped to do by herself. Now all of them were willing to accompany her to Old Miltia with only a vague idea of why they were going there. They had a right to know about the messages. Maybe one of them might even know what Nephilim was trying to tell them. But why bother any of them now? Better let them play. There would be time for worry and battle later.

Shion sighed and slumped back into her chair. 'Beaches are nice.' She thought (great discovery of the century). She liked the sand, the sun, the waves...bare-chested chaos.

"Wha?" She gagged herself in mid-thought and jerked upright in her chair once she realized what she was staring at–chaos's slender frame. He had his back to her and every time he jumped to tap the volleyball he unknowingly gave Shion a wonderful view of his...posterior.

She'd never really considered what it was about this mysterious boy that drew her to him. Ever since Kevin's death, she hadn't allowed herself to get close to anybody–Allen was living proof of that. However there was something about chaos's calm demeanor and his considerate, selfless attitude that made him the center of Shion's thoughts. More so now after their adventure in the Ormus Stronghold. She felt safe with him. A comfortable feeling of peace and warmth washed over her every time she felt his gaze, his presence, his touch. The fact that chaos was always so quiet and sad didn't ward of Shion in the least. On the contrary, despite the melancholy aura that surrounded him and all of his secrecy, she felt she could share anything with him.

So, as she sat on her comfortable beach chair starring at the silver haired boy playing with her friends, Shion began asking herself the question that all young lovers ask themselves at the beginning of a serious relationship. Did she really have feelings for him? And, more importantly, were they reciprocated? Shion didn't have a very good track record with love–both her parents died fourteen years ago (she was eight), her brother was as cold and uncaring as his sword, and the only person whom she ever truly loved, Kevin, was murdered mercilessly by her own creation. Love had never loved Shion, so she gave up on it. After Kevin's death she threw herself into her work, striving for the position of Chief Engineer and promising herself she would never allow KOS-MOS to malfunction the same way she did two years ago. Ever. But now the tables had turned. Her job at Vector was in jeopardy, and she had discovered she could still care for someone. She risked losing everything she had worked so hard to achieve over the past few years, but she also risked gaining something much better. If she was clever and acted with the same ambition she always did, she could have both.

She grunted and began typing on the communicator, wrenching her gaze away from chaos. With her luck, she'd end up losing both. She gazed at the Vector logo on her communicator. That was her life now.

'I'm too old and jaded to fall that hard for someone.' She thought angrily, 'I'm not an infatuated teenager who runs circles around her love interest and feels like she's been hit by bricks every time he so much as smiles at her.'

As if on cue, a volleyball fell from the sky and collided with Shion's face.

"Hey!" She yelled, as she lost her balance and fell off the chair, "I told you Jr., I'm not–" She stopped in mid-sentence. She had failed to notice the teams had switched fields, and chaos was standing on the other side of the net, opposite Shion, rubbing his head sheepishly.

"Sorry Shion," he called out smiling, "I guess I served a little too hard."

"Um...that–that's ok." She staggered to her feet and wiped the sand from her rear.

"Come on Shion," Jr. whined once he managed to stop laughing, "play a game with us. It'll help take your mind off your lover." He lowered his voice to a whisper so that only she could here, "As if your wide-eyed, drooling stare isn't noticeable."

She sighed, "Alright, _alright_." She spat out the last 'alright' as if it were laced with venom, "I'll play."

—

As far as games go, Shion was a good sport. She hadn't expected this game of volleyball to be anything other than an activity to pass the time. Jr. had other ideas, however. For him, this game would be something of a blood-war. Defeat was unacceptable, and he would fight as hard as he could to win this battle as much as he would if he were fighting a Gnosis.

To ensure victory, the teams would have to be selected wisely, and Jr. would obviously be the one who chose them. At first, he wanted Shion on his side, but he later realized that maneuver would separate her from chaos, and he needed both of them on the losing team (his opponents) in order for his end-of-the-game victory dance to yield the desired results.

"Ok," he cried, "I guess that leaves MOMO. She's gonna have to be on _my _team." He said it as if he had just been diagnosed with the bubonic plague.

"Hey," MOMO folded her arms and pouted, "I serve just as well as you do, Jr.."

Shion laughed. She was aware of this tactic. Boys who were too shy to show their feelings (or too stupid to know how to) often teased and bullied the girls they liked.. A nice insult came to Shion's mind, and she was about to rip into Jr. for not openly showing his affections for MOMO (she certainly had the right to do so after all the heat she'd taken from him regarding chaos), but she decided against it. After all, who was the adult here?

"So that leaves me, MOMO, and Ziggy versus Shion, chaos, and Jin. KOS-MOS will be the ref." Jr. said, as if the setup of the teams were as important and complicated as the battle formations of a Federation Fleet.

Shion reeled. She knew what Jr. was up to, putting her and chaos on the same team. He planned to set them up for an embarrassing situation not unlike what had happened yesterday on the Elsa. "Wait," She cried, "I'll switch with MOMO if you don't want her on your team."

Protests met her statement, this time from Jin.

"No Shion, the teams are fine." He inched closer to his sister and casually nodded towards chaos, "it wouldn't be proper to separate two lovers."

"What? Hey! What is it with you people today? Somebody defend me. Allen!... Where is Allen?"

"He left a while ago. Said something about talking to the Director of Vector's First Division." Jr. told her.

"Oh, that makes sense. He needed to vouch for me. Wait a minute, don't change the subject! I don't think I deserve all the snide remarks about–" But her complaints fell on deaf ears.

—

Shion didn't know the reason. Maybe it was because Jr. was taking the game way too seriously, and her heart really wasn't in it. Or perhaps it was because she kept on stealing glances at chaos in his bathing-suit, jumping and running beside her, and her attention was elsewhere. But for whatever reason, her team was losing pathetically, and it wasn't long before the game became vicious. After a good half hour, everyone was tired and sweating, and Jr.'s team needed only one more point to win. Naturally, he decided to serve the match-point.

"Come on guys," Jin reassured his teammates before Jr.'s serve, "we don't want to lose to _them_ do we?"

"Just focus." chaos told Shion.

Jr. served the ball in typical Jr. style. It sailed over the net at blinding speed.

"Sorry!" Shion yelled. She jumped and smacked the ball with her fist, a big no-no, since she risked shooting it out of bounds, but luck was on her side. Plus, she wanted to win now. The ball flew to the other side of the net at a dangerous angle, but MOMO hit the sand on her knees and tapped it up just in time. Ziggy slammed it across the net after MOMO's save.

"It's yours Shion." Jin cried.

"Get it Jin! What are you doing? Get it!" Shion screamed, she bolted for the front of the net, but there was no way she could make it to the ball in time.

chaos lunged and barely nudged the ball with his fingertips with just enough force to send it to the other side of the net.

"This is it guys! Prepare to lose!" Jr. jeered as he prepared to hit the ball with all the power he had left in his arms.

Shion, who had gotten accustomed to Jr.'s play style, expected him to send the ball towards the back of her field, so she took off and left the net. Big mistake. He was feigning. Jr. tapped the ball ever so lightly, and it dropped like a dead-weight over the net.

"No! Shion, why did you leave the net?" Jin started reprimanding her, but she didn't hear him. She wasn't about to let Jr. get the best of her. The ball continued falling...

chaos dove for the ball. He missed, and landed on the sand. Shion dove for the ball. She missed, and landed on chaos. Match-point. Jr.'s team won.

As Shion landed perfectly on chaos's backside, two thoughts crossed her mind. The first was surprise at how warm, muscular, yet soft the young boy's body felt beneath her. The second was indignant anger–Jr. had set her up for yet another embarrassing moment. However, all was not yet lost. Maybe no one would notice.

Yeah right. Everybody exploded in a fit of laughter.

Jin sighed, "We would have won," he looked up towards the sky in a sign of hopelessness, "if Shion could have just kept her hands off of him."

Shion growled something unintelligible. Humiliation welled up within her, but once again chaos didn't seem at all phased. Then again, she was still sprawled on top of him.

"Wah!" She rolled off of him with a soft thud. "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves!" She scowled, "we have important things to worry about! How can you be fussing over something so trivial?"

"Aw, don't get mad Shion." MOMO helped her to her feet. 'Sweet MOMO.,' thought Shion, 'the only considerate one in a sea of cretins.'

"I think it's so romantic, the way you act clumsy and show your feelings for chaos. Like yesterday in the shower." The Realien smiled.

"Thanks, MOMO ." Shion spat through gritted teeth.

Jin shook his head and gave chaos a hand getting up, "Really Shion, I don't remember you being so openly flirtatious. At least be subtle. I mean, you practically threw yourself on to him. Don't you think you're coming on a little strong?"

Shion's mouth hung open, too shocked to speak.

Jin continued, "Try not to flirt so openly next time. One might think you're...easy."

Despite the differences between Shion and her brother, she never once in her life hated him. At that moment, however, she came really close.

"I-wha–" She didn't like the awkward situation she found herself in. Everybody was ganging up on her. "Ziggy, say something!" She hoped the intelligent one of the group would help restore order to her quickly vanishing dignity.

The cyborg hardly raised an eyebrow, "You're padded top had the desired effect, Shion. I've never seen chaos grin like that." So much for the idea that Ziggy only spoke if he had something intelligent to say, although she couldn't shake the feeling that it was true. In spite of chaos's calm, unaffected demeanor, he seemed to be hiding a smile under a crimson blush. When she dove on top of him he hadn't so much as batted an eyelash. Had he enjoyed their contact?

Shion was about to point out that her top was not padded, but given the condition everyone was in to poke fun at her, she thought better of it, and kept quiet.

"You know," Jr. began, his tone suddenly becoming serious, "Maybe we can arrange a cabin switch on the Elsa. I'm sure MOMO won't mind being alone, and chaos's room is soundproof anyway, so–"

"Shut up Jr.!" Shion barked as the young, red-headed boy collapsed in a fit of laughter.

Desperate and helpless, Shion turned to the only person left who would defend her. KOS-MOS, the android driven by logic, would surely put a stop to this childish banter. By now she probably thought that humans were about as clever as radishes anyway.

As if reading Shion's mind, KOS-MOS stepped between her and Jr., preventing him from attacking Shion's good name.

"Actually Shion," KOS-MOS began, "your embarrassment at this moment is quite understandable, and probably made worse by your emotional state; however, do not think that your behavior is abnormal. chaos's appearance–his bare chest and other such features–is bound to excite natural urges within you, such as a strong physical attraction and a stimulation of the sex drive–"

"ALRIGHT KOS-MOS, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Shion's shrill voice cut the air like a blade, but it was barely audible over the sound of her friends' cheers and shouts. Even chaos chuckled behind his hand.

All of Shion's blood seemed to surge to her face, "I-I have to get some work done on the Durandal!" She yelled and stormed off the beach, leaving her friends who were sinking to the ground, howling with laughter.

—

"Excuse me, where can I find a U.M.N. Terminal."

A blond Realien indicated a cabin in the Residential Area, "Over there, Miss."

"Thank you." Shion walked over to the terminal and accessed the Unus Mundus. She dialed the offices of Vector's First Division. Myuki's face lit up on the screen.

"Hey Shion! I'm glad to see you're at the Kukai Foundation. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, everything is fine...for now."

"That's good. Listen, I'm incredibly busy but I do have some stuff for you. Here, this is a letter from the Director." Myuki uploaded a file to Shion's terminal.

Shion gulped. She wasn't sure she wanted to read what the Director had to say, but she opened the e-mail anyway:

_Dear Miss Uzuki, _

_I regretfully inform you that the Board of Executives of Vector's First R&D Division, after a careful analysis of your work and behavior at our company, have concluded that your conduct has been dangerously inappropriate as of late. Unless an immediate change is effected–primarily the return of KOS-MOS to the team at Second Division and a subsequent apology on your behalf–drastic measures will have to be taken..._

The letter proceeded to list all of Shion's alleged faults: failure to report to the Director on time, sloppy work regarding KOS-MOS's development, and unprofessional behavior in the Encephalon, "to name a few." She closed the link and saved the letter to her communicator. It made her sick–she was in deeper trouble than she had thought. The only way to get on the Director's good graces now was to hand-deliver KOS-MOS personally to the Dammerung, along with a report and an apology.

"Thanks Myuki. Do you have any other scalding letters from bosses at Vector who are pissed at me?"

Myuki laughed, "No, and I'm sure it's no big deal. It'll all blow over after a while. I got some stuff on Aeons though, remember you asked me if I could find anything?"

"Yeah! What did you find?" Shion's eyes lit up. Maybe now she'd start finding some answers.

"I searched Vector's archives and I found a few entries, but it doesn't seem like anything very serious. Take a look for yourself." She uploaded another file:

_**AEON**: Any one of many mystical forces in nature and in the supernatural world that have existed since the creation of Lost Jerusalem. In Ancient times they were known as gods who could take the form of humans. Aeons hail from a higher plane of creation and are the anti-existence of the Gnosis. _

_It is said in many ancient, religious scriptures that one Aeon is destined to use the Zohar to save humanity, and in doing so, Lost Jerusalem well be reborn, freed from the clutches of Abel's Arc._

Shion's brow wrinkled, "this looks like something out of a fantasy novel. Are you sure this information was recorded on Vector's archives?" The archives at Vector were the most comprehensive database of information ever created. The inside joke was that if something wasn't found in Vector's archives, then it didn't exist.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Myuki answered, "but it's interesting because a large portion of the information on Aeons found in the archives is restricted."

"Restricted? By whom?"

"By Vector's president. Only he can access the information."

"You mean Wilhelm?" Shion seemed incredulous.

"Yeah, isn't it weird? Why would he want to restrict anything? Oh! And I also discovered that there's nothing on Aeons in the Undus Mundus."

Shion laughed, "That's impossible Myuki. The Unus Mundus in an information database in cyberspace that _spans the cosmos_. Try cross-referencing _Aeons_ with _Gnosis _or _Abel's Arc_–what is that, by the way?"

"Beats me, but I already did the cross-referencing. Here's what I got: since an Aeon is the anti-existence of the Gnosis, any single Gnosis disintegrates from this universe if an Aeon comes into direct contact with it. Hold on a sec, let me check the Unus Mundus again."

Shion waited while Myuki did her research.

"Ok, it says here that Abel's Arc is a huge Gnosis of unimaginable proportions that apparently..." Myuki paused, as if stunned by the information she was about to reveal, "swallowed Lost Jerusalem and its Solar System."

Shion blinked. "You're kidding right? Are you sure you're getting this information from a serious source? What server are you using?"

Myuki frowned, indignant, "I'm using Vector's server, Shion, and of course I'm receiving this stuff from a serious source. You trying to tell me Vector's archives aren't serious? I'm researching this wacko stuff for you, you know."

"Ok, you're right Myuki, I'm sorry. I'm just a little tense right now."

"And you didn't even let me finish. While I was illegally hacking into Vector's database–"

"You what!"

"Yeah, everyone does it, now be quiet–I found out that the word "Aeon" is part of the encryption code on the black box that Kevin programmed into KOS-MOS's mainframe! Isn't that totally freaky?"

Shion's mind reeled, pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together at the edges of her mind.

"No way, but–" Shion was cut off.

"Let me finish! I tried to decipher the encryption code on the black box, but it's really complicated. It said something about an awakening. Something like 'when KOS-MOS awakens blah, blah, blah, then something else happens to Abel's Arc and blah, blah, blah, and then the circle of zara-something-or-other, and then it just went all crazy.' I couldn't understand any of it."

Shion didn't know whether to be more surprised about the information Myuki was telling her or about the fact that Myuki had hacked into one of Vector's most confidential files to do so.

"Where did you hear about Aeons anyway?" Myuki asked, "you seemed to have struck gold in terms of secret Vector cover ups. I wonder of that word appears anywhere else in KOS-MOS's mainframe."

'That's irrelevant now.' Shion thought, "I first heard about Aeons on the Ormus Stronghold." She decided to omit her near-death experience with Nephilim.

"No way! When I first used Vector's search engine to look for information on Aeons, I got a link that said an organization called Ormus was searching high and low for an Aeon to activate the Zohar! Something about a super weapon. I just blew it off as some conspiracy theory by some psycho, but now that you mention Ormus...I don't know. It's food for thought."

Shion nodded, then mentally kicked herself. She had been on the Ormus Stronghold and she could have hacked into its computer files to find more stuff about the Aeons! The stronghold was gone now, though, and her answers with it.

"Well, anyway, thanks so much Myuki, you've been a great help. I expect to see you soon since I have to bring KOS-MOS to the guys at Second Division on the Dammerung."

"Yay! I'll be waiting. I'll try to keep Harold from causing any more trouble."

"Good. Once I get there save yourself a front-row seat, because I'm gonna tear that man apart limb from limb."

"Ok, take care Shion!"

The connection ended, and Myuki's face faded from the screen.

—

"Come on everyone! The party's over. Get your lazy asses up to the Durandal. We have some serious cleaning up to do."

Shion had wandered back to the beach after her talk with Myuki, only to find Captain Mathews screaming at her friends who were tanning on the beach. Tony and Hammer stood at his sides and they didn't look too happy.

"What's the matter, Captian?" Jin asked, shielding his eyes from the sun.

"The Elsa is about to be completely refurbished (for the second time in two weeks), inside and out. She's getting a new Logical Drive, new thrusters, and the interior cabins are being remodeled."

"So?"

The Captain's face flushed red with blood, "So? So all the Elsa's passengers, a.k.a. all of _you_, have to clear out the Elsa's interior! Every bed, table, chair, lamp, storage box, refrigerator, and toilet that isn't nailed to the floor or isn't an inherent part of the ship's guts has to be removed. Manually. Since my crew here can't lift marshmallows, all of you are going to have to help us. Remember, I did provide asylum for you during the Ormus incident, and I'm going to be kind enough to take you all to Old Miltia once my ship is up and running again...AT MY EXPENSE!"

"Ok, ok. Jeez, Captain, don't burst a blood vessel. We'll help you." Jr. hopped off his chair.

"Um, excuse me Captain." Shion asked him privately, "I don't believe anything on the Elsa is nailed to the floor."

The Captain grunted, "then that means you're going to have a very busy day ahead of you."

When all of the Elsa's crew and passengers boarded the shuttle at the that would take them back to the Durandal, the looks on their faces were not unlike those of prisoners who knew they were destined to live behind bars for the rest of their lives.

—

"Oh...my...God." Shion dragged her exhausted body through the Elsa's now empty cabin and collapsed into the ship's only remaining chair. She couldn't remember every being so tired..

"Hey! Miss Vector," Shion heard the Captain's voice reverberate around the Elsa's bare walls, "I'm about to lock up the ship, you almost done in there?"

"Yeah," she managed to gasp, "there's just this one chair. I got it. I'm just resting for a bit."

A curse, then, "Oh, fine. Just hurry ok."

Shion moaned an answer that he would have to interpret as a yes. She heard the Elsa's entrance door slide shut.

For all the macho attitude that the big, muscular men aboard the Elsa seemed to possess, they had turned out to be real sissies when it came to actually using force to move things. So incapable were her male crew-mates that Shion had to haul three beds, all the tables and chairs in the bar, all the chairs in the bridge, six storage boxes, the actual bar (complete with serving table, refrigerator, and sink), two smelly toilets, and a 110 pound computer through the Elsa's tight hallways and out of the even tighter exit. She was completely spent.

"Oww." She groaned and shifted in her seat. Sunlight drifted in through the cabin's window. Night was falling on the Kukai Foundation, and the solar panels began simulating a sunset.

"That's pretty," she mumbled. As she sat in pain in the Elsa's empty cabin, Shion began to do what she often did when she felt exhausted: talk to herself.

"I can't believe what a horrible turn of events I've had to go through," she mumbled, "Feb is probably pissed as hell with me by now, and my job is on the line because Mr. Assface is going on a power trip..." She sighed, "Oh, please don't fire me, Director. Who knows what will happen if Harold becomes Chief Engineer. He can't change KOS-MOS, he'll turn her into a monster again. What the heck is he after anyway? The black box? And what's the deal with these Aeons? What's Nephilim getting at with her weird messages?" Obviously, she still hadn't figured everything out yet, but the conversation she had with Myuki had been an eye-opener.

Warm hands on her shoulders jolted her out of her monologue. Her head snapped up, and she found chaos standing behind her. He was smiling.

"Sorry," he whispered, "but I overheard the conversation you were having with yourself."

Shion blushed in an unseemly fashion. His eyes were causing her to lose all extraneous thoughts very quickly, "yeah." She mumbled, "I'm a little tired." What are you still doing here?"

"I was moving some pillows out of here when I spotted you sprawled out on this chair, so I decided to take a look and make sure you hadn't passed out."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, excuse me. The big tough man on deck was carrying some pillows. Do you need any help with that?"

chaos chuckled, "No, I'll be alright. But what about you? You single-handedly moved half the Elsa's furniture out of here."

Shion nodded weakly, "It would have been easier to grab the Elsa from the rear and shake out its contents." She mimicked the shaking movement with her arms, but stopped immediately.

"Owwww." She groaned, rubbing her upper arms, "I think I'm in more pain now then when we fought that horrible thing in Proto Merkhaba–" Her sentence ended in a deep sigh as she felt a divine sensation flutter down her spine.

chaos smiled, "I thought you might need a massage. I think you've earned it."

She relaxed instantly as his soft hands kneaded her shoulders. This was heavenly... She realized in a flood of emotions that she'd never been this close to anybody before, symbolically. chaos assuaged her pain with no other reason than to make her feel better. It was care in its purest form.

'Not good,' she thought. The barriers she had put up around herself since Kevin's death were quickly crumbling at chaos's soothing touch. She felt her pulse quicken. 'This is bliss...'

A soft ray of sunlight entered the cabin's window and lit up her face.

"Isn't that beautiful?" chaos asked. Whether he was referring to the sun or to her face was something that made Shion's heart flip.

"Yeah," She whispered, closing her eyes. She felt a lump in her throat. The sunlight was so beautiful. chaos was so kind... "The light is really pretty."

chaos's hands moved up to rub her neck, and his fingers brushed against her cheek. Her eyes fluttered shut. She laid her head against his chest. 'Bliss...'

"You know," he whispered as crimson rays of light lit up the room, "I read that Lost Jerusalem's sun was the source of all life on that planet. I think's it's kind of sad that we'll never be able to see the star that gave birth to mankind. All we have now is fake light created by incandescent bulbs. Imagine how beautiful a sunset on Lost Jerusalem must have been." He paused, staring around the illuminated room, "this is kinda nice too, though."

Shion nodded. Her eyes were still closed. He noticed her lips began to quiver.

It was true. The sun had breathed life into Lost Jerusalem. The incandescent bulbs of the Kukai Foundation were pathetic compared to the power of a star, but there was still something awesome about them. They were a testament to man's greatest achievement–the apex of technological advancement. The human race had created a sun. The solar panels were proof of mankind's will to live.

She couldn't help it anymore. Her emotions had reached the bursting point. There, in an empty cabin of the Elsa, lit up by the Foundation's artificial sunlight, Shion broke down. Tears streamed uncontrollably from her face as she tried unsuccessfully to muffle her sobs.

"Shion?" chaos asked, removing his hands from her shoulders. His expression showed genuine concern.

She covered her face with her hands and sniffled, "chaos, what are we doing?"

He raised an eyebrow, puzzled, "Uh, I think we were cleaning out the Elsa..."

She shook her head, "No. I mean what are humans doing in general? Mankind is lost in space without a home, on the verge of extinction. We're being hunted down by killer Gnosis and nobody knows why. Someone is searching for the Zohar, and I don't who it is or whose side I'm supposed to be on or what the hell the Zohar is supposed to do. Now I'm getting messages from Nephilim about Aeons and ancient religions and the Devil and Abel's Arc, and somehow I have to save Lost Jerusalem and sort everything out when I know absolutely nothing!... And on top of that I'm about to get fired! My job is on the line because some jerk wants to take KOS-MOS away from me and strip her of all feeling...turn her into a monster like she was when she killed Kevin. I-I have no idea what to do anymore! I want to help Nephilim and Feb, God do I want to help them, but-but I don't know how!" She crumbled in front of him again.

Her sobs tore through chaos like a knife. He had barely realized how much emotional garbage had been dumped on her. The breadth and scope of her mission was weighing down on her–crushing her. It was a miracle she had stayed strong up to this point without losing her mind!

He sank to his knees and wrapped his arms around her.

"Shh," he whispered, "Shion, you don't have to worry. You're not alone."

She sniffled again, "chaos, you're so sweet." She was amazed at how keenly he understood her feelings. Ever since Kevin's death, she always felt alone...so terribly alone.

"You're stronger than you think," he continued, "all of us have only got this far because of you. Have you even noticed how far we've come already? You saved Second Miltia when we were on Proto Merkhaba."

Shion stopped sobbing, but she didn't seem at all convinced. She still felt pathetic and alone.

"I know you've been scarred by loss and sorrow, but are you aware of the change you affect in people? Ever since we found you, out in deep space after the incident on the Woglinde, you've motivated people to journey with you. Your love of life and will to live have inspired all of us to make our lives meaningful. Ziggy feels like a person with a purpose again, MOMO is ecstatic because she feels needed–and you've been like a big sister to her, Jr. also feels his life has a purpose since he started traveling with you, and KOS-MOS, she senses your strength, Shion. You made her, but you've also showed her, maybe unknowingly at times, the human traits of laughter, joy, love, sadness. She gets that from you, and she's become more...human in your company." He paused, "And your brother. He really does love you. A lot. He just has a tough time showing it. Your parents' death affected him too."

Shion removed her hands from her face and turned around. At the moment, she was speechless.

"Why do you think all of us want to tag along with you on your trip to Old Miltia?" He asked her, "you inspired us. Your mission becomes our mission. We're not just following you around because you have a pretty face. Although..." He grinned, "you do have a very pretty face."

Shion smiled shyly and wiped her tears. His embrace was so comforting. After a few deep sighs she managed to get up from her chair. Sunlight danced through her hair as she turned around to face chaos. Their eyes locked. She felt powerful feelings welling up inside her, feelings she had kept bottled up for a long time. His gaze seemed to penetrate her soul.

"You have a heart of gold, Shion. And you're stronger than most."

She blushed. All her apprehension was gone now. All she felt was his gaze.

"The way you talk about me," she whispered, shyly tucking a tuft of hair behind her ear, "you make me sound like a hero."

He smiled warmly, "you are."

As if to punctuate his statement, sunlight flooded the room and illuminated the bare walls, their bodies, her hair, and his face in a soft orange glow. She stared at his face and felt her knees go weak. Spikes of platinum hair streaked across his forehead, shining in the sunlight. His eyes glowed with a mysterious intensity...

Her heart raced. She opened her mouth to say something, but he leaned forward, and their lips melted into a warm kiss.

—

There was a certain magic about the Kukai Foundation at night. With the solar panels extinguished, the space colony seemed natural and inviting. A million points of light flickered from the windows of the Foundation's buildings and reflected off the water, giving the ocean the impression that it was filled with candles. The view from the Durandal's park was especially breathtaking, with the entire Foundation stretching before all those who wandered the park's flowery path.

For Shion, however, the view was the best she had ever seen in her entire life, but maybe it was because she had been skating on air for the past few hours, and now she was sitting comfortably in chaos's lap as he played with her hair. She could have been in Second Miltia's sewers sitting waist deep in human filth and thought it was the most beautiful view she had ever seen.

"You know," she murmured, "I'm still a little worried about the shmucks at Vector and Feb's sisters. How am I supposed to take care of two things at once?"

chaos sighed, "do you want me to console you again?"

She giggled, "yes!"

He started tickling her. Mercilessly. Maybe it was her imagination, but she had noticed a profound change in chaos. The brooding, melancholy aura that he always seemed to carry about him had disappeared. He smiled frequently now, a change that Shion didn't mind in the least.

"Ha, ha, ha–wait, chaos stop! Please!" He complied with her request, and she took a few seconds to catch her breath, "I'm serious! This is kind of a catch-22 situation. I either let Feb's sisters die or I get fired. I can't be on the Durandal and on Old Miltia at the same time."

chaos playfully messed up her hair, "you silly Chief Engineer of Vector's First R&D Division, it's already been taken care of."

"Hey! I spend hours on my hair in the morning! And what do you mean its already been taken care of?"

She heard a door slide open behind her and recognized the sound of Jr.'s boots on the floor.

"So anyway, I've figured out how–oh! Excuse me! Am I interrupting something?" Jr. had come upon a bench facing the park's window to find Shion sprawled out on chaos's lap with her arms around his neck.

"Maybe I'll come back later." Jr. grinned, "do you guys want me to order you some champagne and candles while I'm at it?"

"Oh, what's the matter, Jr.," Shion shot back, "are you jealous? You should have told chaos how you felt about him before."

"Ouch. The girl bites back now." Jr. laughed, "that's no fun."

"Actually, she's still freaking out about the situation on Old Miltia." chaos told him.

Jr. folded his arms, "what? You worry too much, you know that Shion. So what if there are a few Realians stranded on Old Miltia. I can arrange to send them coffee if they want."

Shion's expression soured immediately, "that's not funny. This is a big deal. Feb's sisters could be in serious trouble."

Jr. nodded, "I get that. You just don't have to go all wacko about it."

"Jr.! It's important! I have to help them, but if I do I'm going to get fired because my boss has a stick up my ass and he wants KOS-MOS back on the Durandal ASAP. "

He rolled his eyes and knelt down in front of Shion, "Alright Shion." He stared straight into her eyes with mock seriousness, "let's see if your Chief Engineer brain can process what I'm about to tell you–there is no problem. You, KOS-MOS, and your lover go to the Durandal tomorrow, and you can deal with that Assface guy. Meanwhile, me, MOMO, Ziggy, and Jin get on the Elsa and go to Old Miltia."

Shion blinked.

Jr. continued, "while you're disemboweling Mr. Assface, the four of us will be beating the crap out of all the Gnosis or soldiers or whatever it is we find on Old Miltia so that when you get there we'll all be ready to save Feb's sisters."

Shion blinked again, "you'd do that for me?"

Jr. got up, "of course ya dope. Besides, MOMO would never let me live it down if I didn't help you." They both laughed, "but seriously. You're not the only one who worried about the situation on Old Miltia."

Shion smiled, "thanks Jr."

"Thank me once we solve this Feb's sisters trapped in the Zohar mystery. Then when we put all of this behind us, I can kick your ass in volleyball again."

"Well, I do have this habit of jumping on handsome, shirtless boys when I play volleyball." She glanced at chaos intriguingly.

Jr. sighed, "I can't even make fun of her anymore. Tony will be crestfallen...Anyway, I gotta run and make sure the Elsa's refurbishing is going smoothly, if not the Captain will start bawling like a baby." He turned to leave and walked towards the doorway, "I'll leave the two of you alone now." The door slid shut behind him.

Shion and chaos stared at the nighttime skyline of the Kukai Foundation for a while, then he whispered in her ear, "don't worry about it, Shion. You can only handle one thing at a time. Focus on the issue with your Director first. We'll meet up with Jr. and the others once we've sorted everything out on the Durandal."

She nodded. Maybe she didn't have all the answers yet, but she was getting close. She snuggled into his arms and held his hand, "thanks for coming to the Durandal with me." She murmured.

chaos smiled, tenderness seeping out of every fiber of his body. Shion's heart melted.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow. That took a long time to write, but I hope you guys liked it.

What's the deal with the Aeons? What's going to happen on the Durandal? Why has Allen been acting all sneaky of late? Why am I asking you these questions?–I know the answers anyway. You'll find out in the next chapter.

Once again, big thanks to all of you who reviewed. I spilled a lot of blood and sweat while writing this chapter (well, not really) so remember to R/R.


	4. Chapter 4

**Borne Up on Angel Wings**

**Chapter Four**

---

"_We will be gating out of hyperspace in approximately ten minutes. Please return to your seats and make sure your seat belts are securely fastened. We will begin docking into the Dammerung's main terminus as soon as our signal is registered by Vector's Control Center. Once again, we understand that there are a number of space-travel couriers to choose from , and we thank for flying Kukai Spaceways. We look forward to seeing you on your travels in the very near future._"

Shion groaned. The automated, electronic voice that blared through the shuttle she was traveling in had just informed her she didn't have enough time to make herself look important. She had boarded the Kukai's commercial shuttle only two hours ago, and it was already preparing to dock. Apparently the congestion in the U.M.N. had lightened up significantly. That the congestion cleared was a good sign, no doubt. It meant Jr. and the others must be well on their way to Old Militia. Shion had simply overestimated the amount of time she had to prepare for the war she would have to wage just to keep her job.

"Shion!" A loud knock echoed around the small bathroom Shion was currently occupying, "The flight attendant has just informed us the shuttle will be docking soon. Since I am responsible for your safety, I strongly suggest you return to your seat, seeing as that will be the safest location for you in the event of an accident-"

"Ok, KOS-MOS." Shion smiled. The android certainly followed her prime directives down to a "t." The perfect logic that governed KOS-MOS's brain often made her difficult to deal with; ironic, since logic had been programmed into her for the sole purpose of facilitating her interaction with humans. Still, deep down Shion hated the thought of returning KOS-MOS to the Director, but in light of the current mess she was in, she really had no choice.

"I'll be out in a minute."

Another knock resounded around the bathroom, louder than the first. "Yes, hurry up please. I've been holding it since the in-flight movie."

Shion laughed.. "Well, chaos, if you would have convinced Jr. not to give us such a cheap shuttle to escort us to the Dammerung, we could be sitting in a luxurious space-cruiser with lots of bathrooms right now!" Maybe it was her imagination, but she noticed chaos had become much more...playful. She unlocked her door, letting it slide open, and walked out. KOS-MOS and chaos stood in the shuttle's hallway facing her, and the latter's expression changed substantially once he saw her.

"Whoa, Shion. It's like you're a completely different person with your uniform on."

Shion had emerged from the bathroom in a freshly pressed Vector uniform. All accessories were gone from her hair. She hadn't even bothered to braid it. A single clip kept her locks out of her eyes, and the rest of her shining, brown hair had been combed straight down, framing her face.

"Thanks chaos," she smiled, "but you said that already three weeks ago the morning after you slept over at my and Jin's house." She paused a minute, surprised at her own memory. It was amazing the things she remembered, considering she had no idea what she had eaten for breakfast a few hours ago.

"Sorry if I can't be beautiful for everybody mow," she said sarcastically without feeling as she walked towards her seat, "but today I have to be the bitchy businesswoman."

She slumped into the uncomfortable Kukai Spaceways shuttle's chair and sighed. "You're right chaos. I am a different person in uniform: stressed, emotionless, and ruthless."

He sat on her left as KOS-MOS flanked her right, "it seems like you have a busy schedule ahead of you."

Shion glared at him, "I've never done anything like what I'm about to do in a few hours. I have to kiss the Director's ass first, and then immediately kick Arnold's ass just to save my job. I have to make sure the mental-midgets at Second Division know what to do with KOS-MOS. I need to brief my team on KOS-MOS's behavior since her autonomous activation on the Woglinde..." She threw her hands up in the air, "I mean, can they think of anything else for me to do? I could scrub all the toilets on the Dammerung for fun. Before I get fired, naturally."

"Actually Shion," KOS-MOS interjected, "I believe you need to deliver the E.S. Asher's mainframe to the Federation Department on the Dammerung as well."

Shion rolled her eyes. She had almost forgotten. Before Jr. departed for Old Miltia he had given her the disk which contained a documented recording of the events in the Ormus Stronghold. She had to show it to a member of the Federation quickly before the Elsa's crew got sued for flying through restricted space. Luckily for her, since Vector worked closely with the Federation, a few government offices dotted the Dammerung. This spared her a costly trip to Fifth Jerusalem.

"Alright, well, I need a minute to gather my thoughts." She muttered, "Let me fasten my seatbelt first though, because in case an accident occurs and this shuttle slams into the Dammerung at hypersonic speeds and explodes in a giant fireball, the seatbelt will surely save my life." She buckled herself angrily and turned on her Communicator. She needed to go over her report for the twentieth time to make sure it was absolutely flawless.

"You know," chaos grinned, elbowing Shion gently, "you're kind of cute when you act like the spunky, Vector businesswoman who pretends she's always stressed."

She turned to him with a cold, unblinking stare, "call me that one more time, and I'll toss you're adorable butt off of this flying turd of a shuttle."

—

By the time the Kukai Spaceways shuttle docked into the Dammerung and all its passengers had gone through customs, Shion's nerves were already frayed (her day hadn't even begun yet).

"Ok, my uniform is clean and neat." She, chaos, and KOS-MOS walked swiftly through the Dammerung's main terminus. She was leading the group in what appeared to be a convoluted and well thought-out circle to nowhere as she took stock on inventory, "my report is uploaded on my Communicator, I wrote the apology, I wrote down the briefing, and...wait. Where's my Communicator? Oh my God! Did I leave it on the shuttle? chaos we have to go back, I–"

chaos calmly pointed to Shion's belt. Her Communicator rested there, where she had clipped it only five minutes ago.

"Oh, right." She sighed, "good, so that's all set." She checked her watch, "the Director should be in right now...oh shoot, what am I supposed to give him? The report! That's right. And what else? Damn, what the heck do I have to give–"

chaos took KOS-MOS by the arm and gently placed her in front of Shion, who almost tripped over herself.

"Oh yeah." She smiled weakly, then covered her face, "I'm not going make it, chaos. I swear, today's the day I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. How can I forget about KOS-MOS? I mean, that's like a plumber forgetting his toilet plunger! "

He put his arm around her reassuringly, "relax, you're just a little nervous. You're doing everything the Director told you to do, so what could go wrong? He can't fire you for following orders."

She peered out at him through the slits between her fingers, "If I die–or worse, if I get fired–tell my brother I love him."

"You're going to be fine, Shion."

She gripped him dramatically, but he could tell she was joking around, "Don't leave me chaos!" She put her hand over her forehead in what she thought was an excellent soap opera pose, "I need you here for moral support!"

"Ok! Just calm down. Look at you, you're practically shaking! Where do we have to go anyway, the Dammerung is kind of big." Vector's headquarters measured 1000 meters from nose to tail; the Dammerung was more of a small planet than a space colony.

"I have absolutely no idea..." She bowed her head and pouted.

"Don't you live here?"

"Shut up! I'm a little anxious!"

"Excuse me for interrupting," KOS-MOS said pointing towards a shuttle, "but I believe that transport will take us to our destination."

Shion looked in the direction KOS-MOS had pointed. A sleek, transport shuttle lay docked at one of the main terminus's many spacecraft ports. She read the neon sign flashing from the shuttle (which was ostentatiously elaborate and colorful, in true Vector fashion):

**BOARD HERE FOR**

**1ST RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT DIVISION**

**stops include**

**OFFICES**

**LABORATORIES**

**RESIDENCES **

**ENCEPHALON DIVE TERMINAL**

"I work there, right?" Shion asked, needling chaos. KOS-MOS had a very strange my-creator-just-drank-her-brain look on her face.

He sighed, "Yes, Shion. By some twist of fate you actually managed to become Chief Engineer of that division. Now let's hurry, the shuttle is departing.

—

Once Shion found herself standing in front of her director's office, all her previous playfulness was gone. She had made a brief pit stop in her living quarters to print out a copy of her report, and now she was ready to...she wasn't quite sure what she was going to do, but she learned from battle that the best defense was a good offense.

"Ok," she said to herself, "this is it." She grabbed KOS-MOS's hand and led her through the office's sliding door. Shion had forced chaos to stay behind. There were some things she had to do on her own.

"Good morning Director!" She chirped, and burst into her boss's view like a living dynamo. He seemed shocked to see her, as if he weren't expecting for her to come at all. Such was his surprise he nearly toppled out of his chair.

"Ch-chief Uzuki?" He babbled, "what are you–"

She had no intention of letting him get a word in edgewise, "Please accept my sincerest apologies for my delay, but the U.M.N. columns have been blocked for the past two days. I flew here on the earliest shuttle I could find." She walked over to his desk and handed him a thick binder, "This is my report on KOS-MOS's behavior thus far. It explains the events we've encountered since the attack on the Woglinde, and I've included an apology on my behalf. Consider the conventional format of my report a thank you for your patience, since I do take my job _very _seriously."

The Director looked at the pile of papers in his hands. He held at least a hundred pages. Even if she had done a sloppy job on her report (which was most definitely not the case), the quantity certainly spoke for itself.

"Well, thank you Chief Uzuki, but–"

Shion gently nudged KOS-MOS to the Director's desk, "Here she is!" She announced happily in a sing-song voice, "my experience with her has been wonderful, to say the least. KOS-MOS has never malfunctioned, and she proved herself a vital asset in dire circumstances. I am confident that she will fulfill all the goals set forth by the Federation. She is my life's greatest achievement, and I'm proud to say I have not failed with her."

The Director blinked, but Shion didn't stop,

"I will keep in touch with my colleagues at Second Division as they upgrade KOS-MOS's Weapons System. I presume I'm leaving her in good hands?"

Her boss's mouth gaped. Wasn't he supposed to be asking the questions!

"Er, yes Chief Uzuki, I assure you the members of Second Division will treat KOS-MOS with the same care and attentiveness as you did–"

"I highly doubt that." She snapped. Whoa, too aggressive, Shion, she scolded herself. Tone it down, it's the boss you're talking to, "What I mean to say is I have poured every ounce of energy I have into my work over the past months to ensure KOS-MOS is functioning not only properly, but flawlessly. I crafted her, I programmed her, and finally, I fought Gnosis with her, both in the Encephalon as well as in real space. She is, in every sense, like a daughter to me. You must give me your word that absolutely nothing will happen to KOS-MOS's programming other than an upgrade of her battle features."

"Uh, well, yes. Of course. KOS-MOS is as precious to the Second Division as she is to you. I promise you no change will be made to her mainframe." The Director blinked again. His Chief Engineer had just acted tactfully, responsibly, and without a hint of disrespect or lack of work ethic. Why had he believed so strongly that she would have botched her report, or that she would have run off with KOS-MOS?

Shion nodded, "Thank you, sir." She turned to leave. Could she really be this lucky? After the scathing letter he had sent her she was about to skip out of the Director's office without so much as a slap on the wrist!

"Just a minute, Chief Uzuki."

Or not. A little voice rang through Shion's head at that moment. It said something like 'oh...crap.'

She faced her boss, "Yes, Director?" Here it comes. She was going to get sacked.

"I must say, I've been led to believe by a third party that you are not as responsible as you proved yourself to be. To be completely frank, I wasn't expecting you to show up with KOS-MOS at all, let alone compile such an excellent report in such short notice. I thought your intentions with the android were selfish and self-serving, but I understand now that your only concern is KOS-MOS's well-being. I feel I should apologize. I underestimated you."

She ignored the party she had thrown for herself inside her head, "thank you Director. I've recently been informed that one of my colleagues has been spreading slanderous information about me." She folded her arms, "I gather you've dismissed his accusations?"

Her boss blushed a deep and shameful red, "Um," he coughed, "yes, absolutely. I pay no attention to the false gossip that circulates in my division."

Shion had to bite her lower lip hard to keep from smirking, "I see. That's very good to hear, because I was quite worried after that last letter you sent me. I feared that on top of all the other work I had to do for Vector, I'd also have to defend my reputation. Such stress would be...undesirable."

She could hardly believe herself. She had diplomatically if not subtly reprimanded her boss for giving credence to Harold's blatant lies. A few months ago she wouldn't have dared challenge her superior for any reason, even if she were in the right. Her adventures since the Woglinde had changed her significantly.

The Director smiled but said nothing. Shion excused herself, but felt a sharp lump in her throat as she realized KOS-MOS would not be following her. She hadn't prepared for the next part. Spinning on her heel, she ran back and hugged KOS-MOS.

"Take good care of her, alright?" She commanded more forcefully than she intended. The Director nodded.

Shion smiled at KOS-MOS and held her soldiers, "Goodbye, KOS-MOS. I'll see you soon." Shion started blinking, quite frequently, "take care."

"Farewell, Shion. It was a pleasure to be of service."

—

Shion was crying when she emerged from the Director's office. She flung herself into chaos's arms and buried her face in his neck.

"I thought convincing my boss not to fire me was going to be the hard part," she muttered softly, "I was wrong. I spent too much time writing the report, when I really should have prepared myself for a painful goodbye."

chaos held her for a moment. He felt tears drip down to his collar as Shion's eyelashes lightly fluttered against his neck. He caressed her back gently until the tears stopped, and in doing so he felt the strangest sensation of tranquility wash over him in warm waves. He felt he could hold her like this forever, because despite his name, she made him feel at peace.

"Hey," he whispered and kissed her cheek, "do you want to just call it a day?"

"No!" She tensed up, "there's someone I need to talk to!"

chaos grinned. Her resolve had returned, stronger than before. This was the Shion he adored, energy surging through her, as if she were made of live electricity. He felt her fists clench tightly as she thought about how to deal with a certain colleague of hers.

"I'm ready." She stated, and gave chaos one last hug, "let's go." She grinned mischievously.

chaos felt attracted to her most when she was in this energized state. She became the moth and he the flame, except he didn't burn when he touched her.

—

"Hey, Shion? If you don't mind I'd like to check something out here on the Dammerung. Could I leave you at First Division for just a few minutes while I go find it?"

"Sure." Shion barely registered chaos's words. All the sadness and apprehension she felt earlier had given way to blind, unrelenting rage. Her blood boiled every time she thought of Harold, and now she was prepared to teach the power-hungry lying jerk a lesson he wouldn't soon forget. "Go ahead chaos. This is going to get ugly anyway."

He nodded and began walking away from Vector's First R&D Division offices, but he stopped as images of Shion pummeling Harold's face appeared in his mind. "On a second thought," he said to himself, "I think I'd like to see this..."

Shion burst into First Division offices with so much force that most heads turned to look at her right away as she charged up to Harold's desk. All the curses she knew came tumbling out of her mouth in a low mumble once she spotted the pudgy little man who had tried so hard to ruin her. Heh, heh, he was even balding.

Harold didn't notice Shion's entrance, however, since he had his Unus Mundus Phone plastered against his ear and was speaking frantically with whomever was on the other line.

"Yes. Yes sir! I plan to have her awaken soon. No I've taken care of all other obstacles–"

Shion heard nothing as she had marched right up to his desk. chaos thought he saw fire ignite in her pupils.

"HEY!" Her voice shook the office as if a grenade had been lobbed into Harold's lap. It had the desired effect too.

"Huh? Ah, eek!" Harold let out an embarrassing squeal once his eyes locked with Shion's. He collapsed from his chair and scrambled back up to his feet again, banging his head on the desk.

"Sh-Sh-Shion Uzuki! Wha-what a surprise!" The man seemed sincerely frightened for his life.

"That's **CHIEF **Uzuki to you!" She growled.

chaos had wisely left Shion and Harold alone for fear that Shion would suddenly turn into a fire-spewing demon. He slowly tip-toed to the opposite wall of the First Division offices so that he had a clear view of the...upcoming event.

"Oh, of-of-of course, Chief! Ho-how may I help you?" Harold stuttered.

"I'm going to be very blunt with you Mr. Assfa–ah–Asters." Nice save. 'Calm down!' She told herself. She needed to focus since this situation required a lot of tact and finesse.

"Why the _hell_ are you blackmailing me!"

"Huh, what?" The little man's terror seemed to subside just a bit. He seemed indignant, "who told you?"

Shion fought the urge to slug him, "I believe that is irrelevant now. You've been soiling my reputation–"

"I've done no such thing! You're making blind accusations."

Had this little twerp just interrupted her? Did he value his life at all?

"Don't you _dare_ play dumb with me Mr... Mr." crap, what's his name? "Asters! You have been deliberately spreading lies about me and kissing up to the Director with the intention of getting me fired! Your goal is to have my job, no?"

Harold's mouth opened but no words came out.

"I have reason to believe that you wish to have me sacked so that you can have control of KOS-MOS. Is that correct?"

"Well, I–"

"Yes. That is correct. And your hidden agenda is to change all of KOS-MOS's programming. Isn't that right Mr. Assfa–Assf–Ass, grr! Harold!" Shion glared at him. If looks could kill, Harold would be already rotting.

He unexpectedly became defensive, though, "Yes, Chief Uzuki. I usually don't resort to blackmail unless I think there is no hope for the company's survival. I believe the KOS-MOS project has been grossly mismanaged from the start. If my ideas for KOS-MOS's programming would have been implemented from the very beginning, we wouldn't be dealing with the setbacks, delays, and other undesirable situations we have now under the current engineer–"

"WHAT!" Shion took an intimidating step forward, while Harold almost jumped under his desk. By now everybody in the office was staring at them. Myuki even waved a banner over her head that read: Go Shion!

"Are you saying your programming would have better suited KOS-MOS?" Shion seethed. "Let's see, you wanted no emotional drives, no logical processors, a limited A.I., and an enhanced and very dangerous aggressive neural processor–which, by the way, is a real pain in the ass to debug. If my memory serves my correctly, KOS-MOS was programmed exactly as you wanted two years ago. What was it that happened again? Oh yeah, she went haywire and slaughtered many of our colleagues!"

A collective gasp froze everybody in the office. KOS-MOS's malfunction had become a taboo topic in First Division. Most people had forced that tragedy out of their minds.

Harold, however, seemed unfazed, "If KOS-MOS still had an enhanced aggressive neural processor, she'd be in much better condition than she is now. Especially since now she's under your care."

"Are you serious!" She seemed more shocked than upset now, "Do you even remember that horrifying day. My boyfriend was murdered. He died in my lap." More groans echoed around the office, "KOS-MOS turned into a monster that day because of _your _programming, Mr. As-Asters, so don't even think about saying that an enhanced neural processor is better suited for KOS-MOS–not after all those people were killed–because that, and pardon my French, is a load of bullshit and you know it!"

Harold blinked, and shot a worried glance around the room. He could tell most of his colleagues were taking her side. He mustered some resolve, "Don't throw that incident in my face! As if I willed it to happen! I only have KOS-MOS's best interest at heart, and you, _Chief_," he sneered that last word, "came up appallingly short on your responsibilities regarding the android. It amazes me you allowed KOS-MOS to act autonomously on the Woglinde, and your failure to file a single report on that crucial phenomenon is nothing short of shocking."

Shion, who had already been having a terribly hard time keeping her emotions in check, exploded, "You better stop talking right now, Assface! You're lucky I haven't kicked your sorry ass up and down the Dammerung yet!" She took another step forward and Harold fell over his desk, knocking over a paperweight and a cup of boiling hot coffee. Seeing Harold scared out of his mind on the floor caused her to calm down slightly. She reminded herself that a bitch was unprofessional.

"Yes," she began, "I admit I erred from protocol when I allowed KOS-MOS to act autonomously on the Woglinde. However, I do believe there were some extenuating circumstances. What were they again? Oh yes–we got attacked by the Gnosis! It was just a tad bit difficult for me to compile a report when a Gnosis hurled me against the wall. It's kind of annoying trying to write as blood gushes from your head! Don't you think?"

Harold tried to respond, but she almost slapped him, "And another thing. You, Mr. Assface–ah!–Asters! It's Asters! You are a rotten jerk and a liar. How dare you go around spreading dirt about me, tarnishing my reputation, and flapping your big mouth about how I'm an irresponsible engineer?" She was furious, "You better take back all the crap you said about me because I have sacrificed EVERYTHING for that android. Every moment of my existence has gone to making sure KOS-MOS is the most sophisticated and efficient weapon of her kind. I have dedicated my life to the KOS-MOS project, and for you to say otherwise is slanderous!"

The other colleagues in the office began rooting for her. Harold could tell he was fighting a losing battle, and he began to sink deeper and deeper into the floor. If Myuki had pom-poms, she'd be cart-wheeling into the First Division laboratories right about now.

Shion became so emotional in her speech that her eyes began to tear:

"I don't appreciate the implication that I am irresponsible, or lazy, or that I'm late with my reports or sloppy with my programming, because Mr. Asters–and I do always try to be modest–but I am the best damn Chief Engineer this team has ever seen! And I have worked hard and killed my social life and made sacrifices and busted my ass to get where I am today! You, sir, are a little man with a dirty agenda, and you will not bring me down! If it's true you have KOS-MOS's best interest at heart, then you should thank the stars that I'm in charge of her development!"

She spun around and made for the exit, but halfway to the door she changed her mind and waltzed back up to Harold, who was crouching under his desk. Her eyes flared, "And don't you EVER try to spread lies about my conduct at work again, because I swear Mr Assfa–Asters, I will smear your ass from here all the way up to the Public Relations Offices!"

Shion turned to leave, and the office erupted into an explosion of cheers, whistles, and applause for her. Her colleagues' reaction touched her deeply. For two scary days she thought the people who worked under her had mutinied and accepted Harold's bull as fact. Now she knew they had always been loyal, and she could walk away confident in the fact that despite all her mistakes, she had done something meaningful at Vector's First R&D Division.

As she left the office, one of Vector's youngest employees turned to chaos with a wide-eyed stare and gushed with admiration, "That's our Chief Engineer, you know? Isn't she totally awesome?"

chaos nodded, grinning smugly at the pile of jell-o on the floor that used to be Harold Asters, "yeah. I love that girl."

After Shion left and the atmosphere in the First Division office settled back to normal, Myuki began singing to herself as she typed away on her computer:

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, yeah! Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me..."

—

"I can't believe I said that!" Shion began wandering one of the Dammerung's many promenades, holding her head and catching her breath after her little chat with Harold. She could barely walk straight.

"Don't feel bad. You were amazing in there!" chaos followed her and held her shoulders every once in a while to prevent her from walking into a tree.

"I usually never explode like that," she blurted, "my behavior wasn't very professional. I'm kind of ashamed." She giggled nervously.

"What do you mean? Everyone was cheering for you. I'd never seen you angry like that before." He paused a minute and grinned in the most intriguing way, "you kind of turned me on."

Shion tripped and nearly hit the floor. Did chaos just say that! chaos–the mysterious, taciturn boy whose feelings one could only guess at and who never displayed emotion unless his cabin was on fire–had just uttered a statement like that! At first she thought it was her imagination, since she always behaved like a hopeless romantic. She had pretended that after their first kiss, chaos had changed dramatically, but now it seemed to be true. Did she really have that effect on him?

"chaos!" She cried, almost shocked, and shoved him playfully against a tree, "in that case...you better watch out, or else I'll smear _your_ ass from...wah! I can't believe I said that!" She shielded her face in embarrassment and collapsed in a nearby bench. chaos joined her, and they sat in silence watching the residents of the Dammerung scamper off to work.

"This ship is pretty impressive." He remarked after a while.

"Yeah, well, Vector Industries is pretty impressive." She chuckled, "our CEO pulls out all the stops when it comes to the company headquarters."

She allowed her gaze to drift from the Dammerung's massive office buildings (which she had seen so many times before) to chaos's face. She still had a passion for his eyes. She felt they still hid something from her, but that only made her stare at them more intently. She loved the feeling she got of sinking into an emerald pool every time their gazes met.

"So," she said after staring at him in a way most young ladies would have found improper, "aren't you going to tell me your name?"

He turned to face her with a puzzled look, but inside he just realized how perceptive she truly was, "what are you talking about. You already know my name."

She giggled a bit, "Come on, do you expect me to believe 'chaos' is your real name? You, the most un-chaotic person in the cosmos. The whole thing you do by not capitalizing your name is cute and everything, but honestly. Aren't you going to open up to me?"

chaos raised an eyebrow, but he was doing a terrible job of pretending to be nonchalant, "Open up to you?"

"You know, like telling me where you're from, or where you grew up, or...something! My feelings for you grow stronger every day, but I hardly know anything about you or your past!" Her fist flew to her mouth once she realized what she just blurted out. Had she said too much?

He didn't seem to mind though. In fact, he smiled, "the past is irrelevant. It's over and done with."

She rolled her eyes, "Don't give me that! Look, I'm not stupid chaos, I understand there are things you'd rather keep to yourself. We all have our secrets. The past can be painful. Very painful, believe me, I know. But I'm not asking you to recite your entire autobiography right here on the Dammerung's promenade. I just wanna know your name."

He blinked. She was so sweet. But still...

"You know," she suddenly felt terribly shy, "I'd like to know you better."

chaos stared at her. She was amazing. He actually found himself resisting the urge to jump on her. She was too kind, too compassionate, too adorable to be real. He flashed her a heart-melting grin and got up from the bench.

"Huh?" she reeled from his smile, "Oh! Ok, fine. Walk away from me!" She pouted.

chaos laughed, "I'm not walking away from you." In reality he needed to put some physical space between them to cool off his urges; urges he'd rarely had before and that he'd never had a problem suppressing. He felt...strangely happy.

As he gazed affectionately at Shion, who sat with an adorable, perplexed expression on her face, his eye caught an insignia on a building behind her and he groaned.

"Don't you need to give the E.S. Asher's mainframe to the Federation."

She sighed, "Oh yeah. That's going to be loads of fun. So much red tape..." She fished around in her pocket and pulled out a small disk, disappointed that this brief, intimate moment had just evaporated.

"You don't have to come." She grumbled, "I like you too much to subject you to that kind of bureaucratic torture. Plus you're not a Vector employee, so they'll give you a tough time. Even though they're government officials and therefore have no connection to Vector. Don't ask." She got up from the bench, "It's probably going to take a while. You can explore the place for a bit." She had to suppress laughter. There were fewer places in the universe more boring than Vector's headquarters. It was like exploring the interior of a gigantic cardboard box.

"Ok. See ya." He watched her leave the grassy promenade and disappear behind a tall glass building. Her hair fluttered behind her. Her Vector skirt bounced with every step she took. She certainly was the flame. A very, very bright flame...

"Excuse me, sir."

Shaken from his thoughts, chaos turned around and found a Realian motioning to him. She looked very anxious, "you must come with me right away!"

He frowned, "Um. I'm sorry, but I think you made a mistake. I don't work here."

"No, no. The president was pretty adamant. He wishes to see you immediately!"

—

The office of Vector's CEO–despite all the technological revolutions the company spear-headed every day–was very conservative. chaos would have been surprised to find dim, almost spooky lighting, no Unus Mundus Terminal, and no sophisticated gadgets of any kind. He would have been surprised to see only a desk, two chairs, a couch, and an old-fashioned world compass in the middle of the office, which was strategically located in the Dammerung's tallest skyscraper, overlooking the thousands of buildings below. chaos would have been surprised, that is, if he had never seen the office before.

"Ah, welcome." chaos's blood chilled. Wilhelm, the President and CEO of Vector Industries, got up from his desk and walked over to his visitor. Although Wilhelm wasn't very tall, he stood straight, dressed elegantly, and carried about him a manor of unparalleled poise. His eyes were cool, sharp, and ruthless. As the most powerful business tycoon of his time (or any time, for that matter) Wilhelm knew how to bargain, make deals that favored his company, drive his competitors into the ground, and swoon his clients. The Vector employees who have been graced by Wilhelm's presence always comment on his politeness, his charm, and his smooth way of making anyone around him feel comfortable. He has never lost his cool, never buckled under pressure, and certainly never made a deal or signed a contract that hasn't graciously favored both him and his company. Rumor circulated around the top echelons of Vector that he could smooth-talk his way into anything. His enemies wished he would soon drop dead, but he was so young, and he strangely seemed to have been around forever. His clients adored doing business with him. Most women found him irresistible. His employees elevated him to a godlike status, and those who've met him became almost obsessed with his cool, unflinching eyes. In short, most everybody was terrified of him.

Wilhelm led chaos into his office with all the grace and coolness of manner in the world. He thanked the Realian for "fetching" chaos for him and dismissed her. Once the Realian left, however, something peculiar happened. All the dignity and calm flew out of Wilhelm's body, and his fist slammed against his desk in a fit of rage.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He barked. His voice sliced through the air like a blade, unaccustomed to yelling.

chaos folded his arms and eyed Wilhelm cooly, "I'm sorry?"

"Have you completely lost track of your...duties, Yeshua?" He seethed.

"I have no duties. I told you before, I'm not getting involved." chaos's voice was icy.

Wilhelm found his answer amusing, "Don't kid yourself. You know as well as I that your destiny is already written. Whether you wish to accept that now or later is completely up to you."

"You presume too much."

"I'm merely stating the inevitable." His gaze hardened, "What I'd like to know is why you're seducing the Chief Engineer of my company's First Research & Development Division."

chaos's brow furrowed, "I see that your choice of words distorts reality, as usual. Either way, my personal life is certainly none of your business–much to your displeasure, I suppose."

For one of the rare moments in Wilhelm's life, he found himself losing the upper-hand in an argument. He merely glared. chaos continued, "I've washed my hands of the situation. You don't have to worry about your engineer; I'd wager I care more for her than you do."

Wilhelm let out a deep sigh. He slowly walked over to his desk and slid his hand gently across its edge. His gaze was fixed upon chaos. His demeanor colder than ice. "Very well Yeshua, you can turn the tables however you like. Put whatever spin you want on the truth. Make me out to be the villain. Go ahead. Pretend you have the freedom not to get involved. After all, we all know that when push comes to shove–and the shove most definitely will come, I can guarantee that–you will carry out your destiny. You know that, but you can deny it all you want if it makes you happy. I'm simply concerned about the safety of one of my employees."

chaos suddenly found it difficult to breathe. He felt the office closing in on him.

Wilhelm cooly continued to stare him down, "Let me just ask you this–when the time comes for you to fulfill your purpose, are you really going to risk endangering Shion's life?"

chaos's hands balled up into tight fists, "You're assuming something that won't happen!"

The CEO rapped his desk, annoyed, "I'm not going to play this game, Yeshua. Defiance never suited you. I'm merely warning you, if you carry on like this her blood will be on your hands. It would be a terrible sacrifice–one that could be avoided so easily, especially because she is so innocent."

"What would you know of innocense?" chaos's voice left his lips in a low whisper.

Wilhelm sighed, "It's bad enough you've pursued a relationship with her, or anyone for that matter, but you also managed to pick someone who works for me." He strode with frightful swiftness up to chaos, like a shadow, "If you really do care about her, you should end it now. For her sake."

"Your lies and empty threats don't scare me." chaos replied defiantly, but he felt a paralyzing weakness grip his spine.

Wilhelm laughed, it made chaos's skin crawl, "Lies? You think I'm lying to you, Yeshua? You of all people should be able to tell if I'm being truthful or not. Tell me to my face then, tell me that I'm being dishonest when I say unless you sever contact with Shion Uzuki, she will suffer a most gruesome death."

chaos said nothing. He bowed his head and allowed his bangs to fall and cover his face.

"Well? Am I lying when I say she will suffer greatly?"

"No." Tears welled up in his eyes, "no, you're not."

—

"Shion! Shion Uzuki! How can my name not be in your database?" Vector's young Chief Engineer was losing her patience. She knew that Federation employees were slow, but the current attendant she was talking to seemed less active than a soap dish.

"Hm." The attendant scratched her head and pondered her monitor. She wore a face of enormous puzzlement, which clashed terribly with her Barbie-doll complexion. Her head was so caked with hair spray that it wouldn't have been surprising if some of it had seeped into her brain, which would explain her shockingly low IQ.

"Um, well, there is a Sharon Uzuki."

"No." Shion gave an exasperated sigh, "no, that's not me. It's Shion. S-H-I-O-N."

"Tsuzuki? I found a Shion Tsuzuki here."

"No! That's not it either!" She felt like strangling the little air-head.

"Well, I'm confused. I've searched all the names in Marketing & Licensing! Are you sure you work for Vector?" Her voice resembled Minnie Mouse on helium.

"Of course I'm sure I work for Vector! What kind of a stupid question is that! Wait, did you say Marketing & Licensing? No, no, no, you mor–eh! I work in R&D."

"Oh!" The attendant giggled. She sounded eerily like a poodle in heat, "I guess that's why I couldn't find you in the Federation's database! Just a moment." Her hands flew across her keyboard. Shion waited: a minute, five minutes, a quarter of an hour.

"Excuse me!" Shion growled, trying hard not to foam at the mouth, "what's taking so long?"

The girl looked up from her computer with a placid look on her face, "Uh. What exactly does R&D stand for?"

Shion felt a vessel pop in her head. "Research & Development." She spat through gritted teeth. "I work in the First Division."

More typing, then, "I'm sorry Miss Uzuki. But you're name doesn't show up anywhere."

Shion's fists came down on the attendant's desk so hard it made the latter unleash a shrill scream. "That's impossible!" She howled, "I'm the Chief Engineer of Vector's First R&D Division! How can I not be in your database!"

"I-I'm sorry Miss. But it says here that Kevin Winnicot is Vector's Chief Engineer."

"Huh? Kevin Winnicot is dead!"

The poodle-girl looked baffled, "Oh dear. Our database may need to be updated then."

"He died two years ago!" Shion exploded, "I'd sure as hell say you need to update!"

"Look, Miss, there's no reason to get upset." The attendant pulled out a drawer and shuffled through its contents, "if you'll just fill out this form, I can–"

"NO! I had to fill out three forms just to get into the building!" She took three deep breaths to calm down, "Look, all I need is to speak with a Federation official who has some grey matter between his or her ears."

The attendant blinked, "and what is this regarding?"

"Violation of space restriction due to interrupted hyperspace drive and subsequent Gnosis encounters. I wish to validate my crew's innocense with the information stored on this E.S.'s mainframe."

"Uhh..."the poodle-girl's face portrayed an unbounded stupefaction, "could you repeat that."

Shion threw her hands in the air and walked away, "forget it!" She cried behind her, "I'm going to speak with your supervisor. Is everybody here so irreconcilably stupid?"

"Hey, Shion!"

Shion looked to her left and spotted Myuki bouncing up to her.

"Oh my gosh!" Myuki squealed. She pulled her Chief Engineer into a bone-crushing embrace. "Shion, you were incredible back there! You nailed that Harold's ass to the floor!"

"Uh, yeah. Thanks, Myuki. Listen, I'm a little busy now, but later–"

"Bah, you're always busy. We have to have lunch together and celebrate your victory!"

"I'd love to, but not now. I have to, ah-Myuki!"

Resistance was futile. Myuki shoved her out of the Federation building and dragged her off to the First Division food court.

—

Shion picked reluctantly at her meal. She'd been waiting anxiously for a call from Jr. since she arrived at the Dammerung. She needed to know if he and the others had arrived on Old Miltia safely, and if the situation was...stable. As worried as she was though, one couldn't remain in low spirits for long in Myuki's company.

"I still can't believe what you did in that office!" Myuki gushed, "You rocked! That jerk is going to be so afraid of you!"

Shion giggled. Myuki's enthusiasm was contagious. While she could grate on people's nerves sometimes, Myuki really was a valuable friend, and Shion was thankful for that.

"Did you see the little banner I made for you?"

Little? "Yes, Myuki. I think the whole Division saw it."

Myuki laughed and attacked her sandwich. In between mouthfuls she continued to praise Shion and congratulated her for putting Harold in his place. She totally agreed that after all Shion had sacrificed, she didn't deserve that kind of treatment. Plus Shion was vicious! Harold must have wet his pants!

"Uh, yeah. I guess so. But lets try not to make such a big deal about the way I ripped into him, ok? I mean, it was kind of shameful the way I lost my temper, but I really couldn't help it. I lash out when it comes to my work, especially when my life has been nothing but Vector for the past two years."

"Yeah, you're right." Myuki smiled. "At least I caught it all on tape."

"Myuki!"

"No, it's really cool! I zoomed in on you when you told him you'd smear his ass up to the Public Relations Offices, and your face had this real scary look. I can show it at this year's office party."

"Or not."

"Oh, come on! It's not like the worst thing you've ever done in that office."

"If you keep talking, I'm going to have to slap you." Shion threatened. When Myuki was on her down time, her maturity level crashed through the floor.

"Don't you remember? The Christmas party four years ago, the one where you ate half a turkey? You had four beers, a whole bottle of Vodka, ice-cream with rum, and like seven glasses of champagne."

Shion stabbed at her salad, "I was eighteen years old."

"But it doesn't finish there! Remember afterwards, when took off–"

"Shut up, Myuki!"

Myuki covered her mouth with her napkin as she burst into laughter. Memories of that famous party started flooding back. Shion looked like she was about to kill her.

"Look, I have a lot going on right now. Can we just sit here like mature adults and enjoy our lunch?"

Myuki rolled her eyes, "oh fine... I just–"

"Don't say it!

"–wanted to see if you remembered the party–"

"I'm warning you!"

"–when you got up on the Director's desk naked and started dancing!" She threw her head back and guffawed loudly.

"It's not funny." Shion mocked indignity but she couldn't suppress her giggles."

"I believe you were also wearing fluffy white bunny-ears?" Myuki's laughter intensified.

"Oh God," she groaned, "yeah, I was so wasted." A memory popped into Shion's mind and she had to cover her mouth to prevent a loud, boisterous giggle, "remember Allen?"

Myuki had to hold her sides, "Yes! He was staring at you so intently! I think he had an orgasm!"

"Please, I've tried to purge my memories of that night. All I remember is a turkey leg floating in the toilet." She laughed into her napkin.

"And you were doing all those crazy dances!" tears began streaming down Myuki's face, "You were butt naked!"

Shion covered her face in shame. People in the food court started peering at the two young girls in Vector uniforms laughing their heads off.

"And then!" Myuki said, a bit too loudly. She was laughing so hard she could barely speak, "you tried—to do the can-can—and—you fell off the desk!"

Shrill peels of laughter echoed loudly around the food court.

"I remember your left leg went up," Myuki chuckled, "and then you flipped over and just toppled off!" More laughter, and Shion began fearing the manager was going to kick them out of his restaurant for disturbing the peace. The girls needed a good five minutes to finally calm down.

"Ah, good times." Myuki sighed, drying her tears.

Shion nodded, a bit sadly, "yeah, they were good times. Just goes to show you how much has changed. Nothing's the way it used to be."

Myuki's brow wrinkled, "Well, not everything has changed. We're still friends right?"

Shion smiled, "Yeah. Our friendship is the longest lasting relationship of my life, believe it or not."

"Oh come on! Don't say that. I know your love life has been pretty–"

"Pathetic?"

"–I was going to say non-existent, but it's not like there's no hope for you."

Shion laughed, but it was cynical this time, "you don't have to make me feel better, Myuki. You certainly don't have to lie either."

A long silence ensued, but Myuki had never found herself in a situation where she couldn't find something to talk about.

"I was going to ask you," she began, "who was that cute boy who accompanied you to the office?"

Shion's eyes lit up, but her face remained stoic, "Hm? Oh, he's just a member of the Elsa's crew. He helped us out at Proto Merkhaba and stuff."

Myuki raised an eye-brow " 'just a crew member?' And he followed you all the way to the Dammerung?" She didn't look convinced, "Ok, I'll buy it. So, what's his name?"

Shion scoffed, "you're not the only one who wants to know."

Myuki looked at her quizzically for a moment, "come on, Shion. Nobody comes with you to the Dammerung–'where fun comes to die'–and is 'just a crew member.' I saw the way he was looking at you when you were reaming Harold a new rectum. Now you have to tell me, or I'll become dangerous. What's he like?"

Shion shrugged, "he's a very nice, very sweet boy. Kinda terse though."

Myuki studied her friend for a moment, then reeled back in shock, "Oh my God! You're in love!"

"What!" Shion gaped at her friend, "are you high, Myuki?

"Don't try to fool me, dear. I know you better than I know myself. You're in love!"

"No, I'm not!" She paused, then buried her face in her hands, "yes I am."

Myuki squealed, "Oh my God! This is unbelievable Shion, it's fantastic! This is the news of the century!"

Shion frowned, "You're saying it is if it were an impossibility. It's not like I've been a cold fish for two years."

Myuki waved her hand as if Shion's statement were insignificant, "don't kid yourself, sweetie. Start talking. You're required by law to spill your guts right now. Does he know?"

"Uh...no, I don't think so."

She waved her hand again, "doesn't matter. One shouldn't rush these things. Has he hugged you?"

"Er, yeah, but I hug many people, Myu–"

"Shh! Just answer my questions. Has he shared anything meaningful with you?"

"Y-yeah. I think."

"Did you stay up and watch the stars with him, or done something else of a romantic nature?"

"Yes."

"Does he blush when you're close to him?"

"Yeah."

"Has he comforted you when you constantly bitch about your life?"

"Yes–hey!"

"Has he ever expressed pride in you of any sort."

"Um, yeah."

Myuki's body bristled with excitement, "Has he kissed you?"

"...yes."

"WAHHH!" She screamed excitedly," Shion this is serious!" She started bouncing up and down in her chair.

"No, _sweetie_. It's not serious at all. And would you lay off the third degree, please? I'm starting to feel like I'm in the interrogation chair."

Myuki huffed, "I'm assessing the situation. You have to tell me everything. You have no choice. What does he kiss like?"

"Ah-that's none of your business!"

"Heh, heh, you're blushing, and you've just licked your lips unconsciously."

"What's that supposed to mean–"

"He must have had you in quite a lip lock. Have you two...you know."

Shion folded her arms. She was beginning to get annoyed, "have we _what_, Myuki?"

"You know...have you seen him naked?"

Shion blushed nervously, "well, actually yes, but–"

"Holy crap!" She grabbed Shion's hands and bounced some more, "This is incredible! I'm so happy for you, Shion!" A goofy grin spread across her face, "he looked delicious clothed. What's he like naked? Is he...well-endowed?"

Shion allowed her mind to wander. She felt a warmness ignite within her and began to drool.

"Ohh, Myuki, he's," she stopped herself and snapped her fingers, "hey! Back to reality here. Focus please!"

—

"What's this?" Myuki asked as Shion produced a small, white disk from her pocket.

"This is the E.S. Asher's mainframe. I need to show it to the Federation in order to prove that we were attacked by the Ormus Stronghold, and that we weren't purposefully flying in restricted space."

"Oh," Myuki nodded, "that's why you were in the Federation building. Don't worry." She took the disk, "I'll handle it. As if you don't have enough on your plate."

"Yeah." Shion sighed. Jr. still hadn't called, and where had chaos run off to?

"Speaking of which, how's that Aeon stuff going? I was doing some research before, and the stuff seems really interesting. Totally whacko, but it reeks of conspiracy!"

Shion sighed. Myuki didn't know the half of it.

"So what's it all about? It seems really important."

Shion averted Myuki's gaze. Should she tell her? She really didn't want to get Myuki involved, especially after Shion's newest revelation. Last night it had sort of come to her in her sleep: _KOS-MOS is an Aeon. _Not that it was ground-breaking or anything; her flesh was crafted by mankind, her apparent destiny was to defeat U-DO, she had been created with the sole purpose of exterminating the Gnosis, the word 'Aeon' was part of her encryption code, she acted autonomously on the Woglinde before that part of her had even been programmed, she had rescued Shion and chaos when Nephilim told them the Aeons would protect them; it didn't take a genius to figure it out! But what did it all mean? What were the implications of this discovery? And could Shion just drag other people into this mystery?

"Well," Myuki asked, "aren't you going to tell me?"

Shion looked uncomfortable, "It's kind of complicated. I'm not sure I understand it all myself."

"Then tell me what you know! I might be able to help you."

"Um..." If anyone had the right to know what Shion was going through, it was Myuki. They had known each other for ages, and Shion trusted her more than anybody. "I don't know."

Myuki stomped her foot, "Come on Shion! Who hacked into the Vector archives to get the information you needed? Who constantly defended you while Harold attacked your reputation? Who built that M.W.S. that saved your life countless times? Who held your forehead four years ago while you threw up the turkey for two hours after the Christmas party?"

"Ok!...here." Shion pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Myuki. She told her everything: the encounter with Nephilim on the Ormus Stronghold, Niphilim's strange revelation about the Aeons, Shion's nightmare, and now these weird messages, and Shion's suspicion that KOS-MOS was an Aeon.

Myuki read the messages, "these look like prophesies to me. They sound kind of religious."

"I know. I've been trying to make sense of them. I think that third one is an analogy. Lucifer is U-DO, and he's poisoning the Unus Mundus."

"Weird." Myuki tilted her head and read the messages one more time. "You know, it's a pity that the Ormus Stronghold is gone. Apparently Ormus is searching for the Aeon who will 'sacrifice himself to the Zohar.' I know that they have-er-had a bunch of information in their computer databases. We could have learned a lot."

"Yeah, it is a pity. And to think that I was there just a few days ago." Shion mumbled. Then, out of nowhere, an idea so brilliant came to her that she thought it could change the entire course of her adventure.

"Myuki, would it be possible to upload the information on the E.S. Asher's mainframe onto the Unus Mundus?"

"Uh, sure. Why?"

Shion grinned, "For the purposes of say, I don't know, an Encephalon Dive? "

Myuki's eyes widened, "You mean, would it be possible for you to Dive into the Ormus Stronghold via the Asher's mainframe? And therefore retrieve any information stored on the Ormus's computer database? Hm..."

"Well," Shion's face lit up, "could we do that?"

"I suppose, but it would be illegal, very dangerous, and an abysmal abuse of our rights as Vector employees to use the Dammerung's dive device for our own selfish motives...Let's do it!"

—

The Dammerung's Encephalon Dive terminal was about as sophisticated and safe as any devices of its kind could be. Its only rival was the one in the U.M.N. Center on Second Milita. Naturally, security and privilege of use for the Dammerung's Dive Terminal was extremely tight, so Shion had to use all her power as First Division's Chief Engineer to get everybody out of the Terminal and secure it privately for herself and Myuki.

"So, are you sure you want to do this?" Myuki asked as she activated the terminal, "It's going to be pretty dangerous."

"I've been through worse, Myuki. We just have to be quick. Brief me, what do I have to do in there, and what should I expect."

"Well," Myuki turned on her monitor, "there won't be any Gnosis in the stronghold. Just mechs. So..." She pulled out a small cartridge, "I've been meaning to test this out sooner, but now's as good a time as ever." She handed the cartridge to Shion.

"Is this another one of your inventions?" Shion said wearily.

"Yup! It's a peripheral for you're M.W.S. It'll give your attacks a piercing attribute, so they'll be more effective against the enemies you'll find in the stronghold."

Shion looked worried, "I don't know, Myuki. I mean, one never knows with your inventions."

"Oh, don't be silly! Just try it out."

"The last time you said that I woke up with a ripped blouse and vomit in my shoe!"

Myuki rolled her eyes, "That was just that one time! Besides, I created your weapon and its always worked out fine, hasn't it?"

Shion cautiously inserted the cartridge into her M.W.S., "I'm going to trust you, but if this thing blows up in my face..."

"Then I'll pull you out of the Encephalon immediately. There's no need to worry. The connection is safe."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Shion remembered the dive into MOMO's mainframe at the U.M.N. Center. Albedo had intercepted their connection. She certainly didn't want that to happen again.

"Yes. Nobody has access to this terminal, except maybe the Director or some other Vector big-wig, but I doubt _he'll _give us any problems."

Shion nodded, "good enough." She donned her Encephalon glasses and sat down in one of the terminal's sleek black chairs.

"I'll be monitoring you're dive." Myuki called to her from the terminal's central network, "once you're in I'll tell you which computers to look for and where to find them. The Asher's mainframe can reproduce anything within a hundred mile radius, so the entire stronghold is covered."

"Roger." Shion gripped the armrests of her chair, "I'm ready."

"Alright. Be careful."

A low hum resonated throughout the terminal, then Shion felt the familiar shove, as if she'd been thrown out of an aircraft. The Dammerung disappeared from her vision, and for a moment all she saw was the binary code and flashes of the Ormus Stronghold materialize in front of her. As she dove into the Encephalon, she prayed this small deviation from her ultimate goal (save Feb's sisters) would be a fruitful one. The fact that Jr. hadn't even contacted her yet could only mean one thing: the situation on Old Miltia was very, very bad. She'd managed to safeguard her job today, at least for a while. Now she hoped she could keep an eye on KOS-MOS, slowly unravel the mysteries that surrounded chaos, and crush the Ormus organization once and for all–ideally before dinner tonight. Most of all, she hoped to find some answers; answers that were only a dive away.

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Oh dear, I believe I've left another cliff-hanger! I actually wanted this chapter to be much longer (much, much longer) something like fifty pages, but then I reconsidered since it would have taken me forever to update, and then it becomes a tremendous pain to proofread. Anyway, bad news is, you only get a thirty page chapter. Good news is I'll be updating really soon.

It took me a while to update because I agonized over some parts of this chapter. Although the conversation between chaos and Wilhelm is short, I spent a lot of time going over every detail: trying to flesh out Wilhelm's character and making sure everything sounded natural. Since the conflict between those two is going to be a key part of the fic, you all have to tell me immediately what you think. I know exactly how this story is going to end, it's just a matter of getting there.

As always, tell me what you think and leave a review.


	5. Chapter 5

A big thank you to all my reviewers! I love you guys! You keep me writing

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**Borne Up on Angel Wings**

**Chapter Five**

Silence. Stillness. Yet eerily unpeaceful. The only sound was her own beating heart.

Shion opened her eyes, "Alright. I'm in."

The dive had been successful. She now stood in the E.S. hanger of the Ormus Stronghold. Her psyche had been completely projected into cyberspace. If no one had told her, she never would have known she had dived into the Encephalon. The illusion was too perfect for her to tell the difference between the U.M.N. and what was real, but then again, what is reality anyway than what the mind perceives through its senses? In an age of cyber-diving, U.M.N. Transfer columns, and personality corrective procedures, objective reality was vague at best, nonexistent most of the time.

"Right, I see you on my monitor." Myuki answered.

It was the weirdest feeling, and Shion still hadn't gotten used to it. In reality, Myuki stood only a few feet away from her, but in the Encephalon (where Shion's brain currently received stimuli) Myuki was nowhere. However, since Myuki was monitoring the dive, her voice echoed around inside Shion's mind, much like telepathy. It felt like a ghost was whispering in Shion's ear.

"I've uploaded a map of the stronghold right now. You're at the very entrance." Myuki continued, "I'm not sure which computers have the information we want, but I have a rough idea. I guess you're going to have to check all of them."

Shion groaned. Myuki's rough ideas were notoriously dangerous and ill-conceived. "Ok, but we have to be quick. I don't want to get my ass nailed for using the Terminal right after I practically groveled in the Director's office this morning just to keep my paycheck."

"Uhh–bitch, bitch, bitch. You worry too much. Now give me a second, if you don't want me to lead you to a bathroom or something." There was a pause as Myuki apparently accessed information on her computer. "Ok..." she said after a while, "you should go left."

Shion walked into the stronghold's central room and turned left.

"No, no! Not your left, Shion, my left!"

Shion stifled a curse, "Which _is _your left, Myuki? I can't see you!"

"Oops, right. Shift right a little bit. No, a little more...a little more. OK stop! There. Now go straight until you see that glowing red thingy, then turn right...I mean left! Your left."

Shion sighed deeply. This was going to be a long dive.

—

By some stroke of sheer luck, Myuki managed to lead Shion to the first computer suspected of containing information on Aeons...without too many detours.

'This is weird.' Shion thought. She'd been traveling these hallways only four days ago, and she had seen the stronghold implode on itself and crumble in front of her very eyes. Now it stood before her unharmed and menacing as ever. She remembered this hallway in particular: dark and spooky with red and purple neon strips that lined the walls. She'd run frantically down this hall with chaos, searching for a staircase. Was that only four days ago? Her experience in the stronghold with him had sparked the beginning of...something. She wasn't quite sure what. It was still hard to distinguish genuine feeling from lustful desire.

"Ok, I'm going to check this one out." Shion called to Myuki as she accessed the Ormus's computer database.

Nothing. Shion's shoulders slumped. There was nothing remotely related to Aeons or the Zohar on the screen in front of her. The only information of any importance on the computer's database was a list of the personnel, A.M.W.S., and weaponry on the Ormus Stronghold. Not much help now, since the actual stronghold's molecules were being torn apart somewhere in the bowels of a black hole.

"Nope. Nothing here." Shion sighed, and she was about to walk away when a disk popped out of the computer's hard drive. "What's this?" She asked.

"Sorry," she heard Myuki say, "I just interfered with the dive. I inserted a virus into that computer so that it would barf up anything hidden in it by a password or an override code."

This was convenient. How handy that Myuki was using her computer software engineering skills to hack into an enemy database.

Shion picked up the disk that the computer had "barfed up." It was marked _Robot Arm 1_. She scrunched her eyebrows, "I don't know Myuki. This doesn't seem to be what we're looking for..."

"So what? Take it anyway. It can't hurt. That disk might hold some other info on Ormus that could help us. Aren't they like you're number one enemy right now?"

Good point. Shion pocketed the disk and headed for the next computer.

"How many of the Ormus's computers are in your rough idea, Myu–AH!" Shion's sentence was cut short by the ear-splitting sound of bullets ripping from an A.M.W.S. gun. The wall to her right crumbled, and an assault mech smashed its way into the hallway, blocking Shion's path. It aimed its weapons at her, guns blazing. She ducked, hitting the floor and rolling away from the stream of bullets tearing holes in the ground beside her. This mech was nasty. It had burst through the wall and attacked her head-on. Stupid element of surprise...

"Gah," she grunted and flipped onto her stomach, not daring to get up to her feet for fear of turning into Swiss cheese. She thrust her left arm out in front of her (the one holding the M.W.S.) and fired three quick surges of electricity. The A.M.W.S staggered. Shion scrambled to her feet and flattened her body against the still-intact left wall as best she could to avoid enemy fire.

'This is rather problematic.' She told herself. The A.M.W.S. was so large it blocked off the other end of the hallway completely. She had nowhere to hide. Shion was trapped in a long, narrow tunnel in perfect range of the mech's cannons. Stupid hallway. She had no space. Then again, maybe she could use her environment to her advantage. It would require a substantial amount of pride-swallowing, though.

"AAAHHH!" She screamed and left the wall, sprinting directly towards the A.M.W.S in true kamikaze style, firing electric blasts from her weapon in erratic bursts. The mech seemed startled by her sudden frontal attack, most sane people wouldn't attempt to charge an assault weapons system on foot. A bullet whizzed by so close to her ear she thought she heard it say "I'm going to kill you! You're going to die!"

The A.M.W.S fired. She leapt. Bullets ripped through the ground beneath her. She landed on her feet a few inches from the assault mech's massive legs and squatted down in an unflattering position as more ammo blazed over her head. Then, using the momentum she gained from her jump, she thrust herself forward, straightening her legs and sailing in between the mech's feet. She fired an electro blast at the A.M.W.S.'s groin just for fun.

Landing with a thud on her stomach on the other side of the mech, Shion jumped to her feet and spun around, M.W.S. at the ready.

"Neener, neener, neener!" She cried happily, now facing the A.M.W.S's backside. The giant mech's movement was severely restricted in the tight hallway, and much to Shion's excitement, it couldn't turn around to face her.

"Spell Ray!"

A blue laser erupted from her weapon and collided in a shower of sparks with the mech's mid-section. Pointing her M.W.S. upwards in a sweeping arc, she tore a gash from the A.M.W.S's heart to its head, vaporizing the pilot within. The mech collapsed in a heap of burnt steal.

"Heh, heh," Shion smirked, "so predictable." She blew the smoke off her weapon, "can't touch this!"

She hadn't realized Myuki had been screaming at her throughout the entire battle:

"–my God! Shion, I'm pulling you out of the Encephalon right now! This is way too dangerous!"

"Huh? Hey, wait, no, no, no! Are you crazy? I'm fine, Myuki. I just wasted this A.M.W.S. See?" She pointed at the steaming pile of rubble in front of her, not that it was hard to miss...

"Oh." Myuki was quiet for a while, "it's just, I always see you sitting at your desk doing Chief Engineer-y stuff. I never saw you fight like that before. I mean, this is nothing like the test dives you did with KOS-MOS."

"Yeah, well. I've had some practice. Don't worry about me. I can hold my own. You just do the computer hacking and I'll be out of here in no time–if you lead me in the right direction!"

Myuki reluctantly agreed, and directed her to a room filled to the ceiling with storage boxes. A small, plasma screen was plastered to the wall at the far end of the room.

"Hmm," Shion walked over to the monitor and attempted to upload the computer's database.

_**Access denied. Password required.**_

Figures. "Myuki," she called out. It was strange, how she had to shout out to seemingly nobody but Myuki could still hear her in real space, "I'm having some access problems..."

"Er–I know, but there seems to be a...complication. The system seems old...really old. I don't know if I can hack into it!"

Fair enough. Shion would have to resort to a sophisticated and very delicate technique used only by the most skillful Vector engineers:

She wacked the screen with her fist. Hard.

**_Access granted_**.****

Works every time. She quickly screened the database for anything Aeon-related. Nothing. She did the same for Christianity and the Zohar. Still nothing.

"Myuki, there's nothing here either." She grumbled. Out of simple curiosity, she searched for Abel's Arc. To her surprise, a small article came up:

_...a Gnosis of epic proportions that ingested Lost Jerusalem's Solar System over 4000 years ago. Since Lost Jerusalem's disappearance, no records or sightings of Abel's Arc have occurred for four millennia. The reason for the consumption of Lost Jerusalem is still unknown. _

_We are on the verge of revealing the location of Abel's Arc soon, however. The activities transpiring in Vector Industries of late are of an incomprehensible importance. Once she identification restricted awakens, the path to Lost Jerusalem will be revealed, and visa versa..._

Shion's suspicion was confirmed. KOS-MOS was definitely an Aeon. She still didn't know what KOS-MOS's "awakening" meant, or when and how she would "conquer Lucifer's evil," as Nephilim's prophesy predicted, or why the fact that KOS-MOS was an Aeon held any sort of importance. Although this little blurb of information helped clarify a few things, it contained nothing that Shion didn't already know. However, it troubled her that Ormus knew about the KOS-MOS project—a project that was classified to the utmost degree up until a few weeks ago. Either Ormus had hacked into First Division files (doubtful, not even the Federation had access to that database; Wilhelm kept it restricted to Shion and few others) or someone in Vector had leaked information. Shion's mind flashed on Harold. She shuddered.

"Alright, Shion. I've uploaded all relevant information to our communicators. We can move on now." Myuki attacked the Ormus computer with a virus again, and it ejected another disk. This one was marked_ Robot Arm 2_.

"Myuki, what are these disks?" Shion asked as she stowed it safely in her pocket with the first one.

"I can't really analyze them well until I have them in front of me, but they seem to be a blueprint of some sort. I'm going to use my intelligent engineer brain and hypothesize they're blueprints for a robot!" Myuki exclaimed excitedly.

"Good guess." Shion rolled her eyes, annoyed, "where to next? We're not getting very far here. Are you sure Ormus has information on Aeons?"

"I'm positive Shion! I've done my research you know, they definitely have some beef with an Aeon and the Zohar. Have I ever been wrong before?"

"Um..."

"Don't answer! The next computer is on the western wing of the stronghold, just go through that door–yeah, that's the one. I assure you there'll be some useful info there. If not I'm pulling you out, because I'm worried about your safety."

"Who worries too much now..." She grumbled, but proceeded to the western wing anyway.

Shion reached the large doorway that Myuki indicated and pressed a panel beside it. The door whizzed open. She peered through the opening, then shut the door immediately.

"Myuki," she hissed, "they're like ten A.M.W.S. units in there! Can you get your intelligent engineer brain to negotiate another route? Please!"

A pause, then, "Um, no, I don't think so. Listen, this is stupid, Shion. I'm going to cancel the connection. I'd never live it down if you got hurt in there on my account–"

"No!" Shion yelled, "don't pull me out of the Encephalon! All the answers I'm looking for could be just beyond those mechs. If I have to trash them all to get there, then so be it. Do NOT sever the connection unless I'm in mortal danger, alright?"

"But–"

"I'm your chief, Myuki, and I just gave you an order! Do not pull me out unless the situation is dire. Is that clear?"

"...yeah."

"Good. Now stop yelling at me because I can't hear myself think. I have some metallic ass to shred."

She took a deep breath and opened the door again. She stepped through. There they were; ten A.M.W.S. units lumbering around what appeared to be the stronghold's weapons hanger. The bigger room gave her more places to hide from enemy fire, but it also allowed the mechs more movement.

What was it that Jin had told her was the first thing one did when entering a battle where the odds were against one's favor? Oh yeah, observe your surroundings: she was standing in a fairly large weapons hangar, mostly filled with storage boxes, and with a few A.M.W.S. cannons hanging on the wall opposite her. It would have been nice if she could get her hands on one of those massive cannons and blast the enemy A.M.W.S. into nothingness, but by the time she crossed the hangar, clambered up the wall, hoisted the cannon off its grappling hooks, and figured out how to operate it, the A.M.W.S. would have already killed her in a hundred different ways.

She clenched her teeth nervously. She knew what she _couldn't _do: stand in the doorway forever and wait for one of the A.M.W.S to notice her. Her eyes darted around the room. Boxes, boxes, just endless mountains of boxes. Last time she checked a box didn't seem to be a very effective weapon. She was about to give up and leave the room when the door closed in her face, locking her in.

'...crap. Now I'm trapped.' She spun around to face the A.M.W.S.. They were still oblivious to her presence. How long would her luck hold out? She began inching around the perimeter of the room, her back pressed up against the wall. Maybe she could tip-toe around the room quietly and none of the mechs would notice her...yeah, and then maybe purple monkeys would fly out of her butt and start dancing the polka.

"Ow!" Shion muffled a cry of pain as her head banged against something affixed to the wall. She looked at the offending object and found it to be a pipe that ran up the length of the wall, curved once it hit the ceiling, and then continued over to the western end of the room. Hmm...she always had been a good rope climber...

She grabbed the pipe firmly and kicked herself up, climbing with less grace then she would have hoped to the top of the room. At first she thought she could inch her way across the ceiling, but realized to her dismay that the pipe became very flimsy once it curved, and it would never be able to hold her weight. Hanging onto the pipe like a mountain climber, she looked down at the lumbering A.M.W.S. One of them was heading dangerously close to her. All its pilot had to do was look up and then it was bye-bye Shion.

She forced herself up the pipe as far as she could go, then an idea struck her. At her current vantage point (about twenty-five feet above the floor), she had a clear shot at each of the A.M.W.S.'s heads. It was common knowledge that a mech's head was its "weak spot," meaning its mainframe and weapons computer were stored there, since the head was small compared to the rest of its body and terribly hard to hit...from the ground. A shot of electricity to the head would disable the A.M.W.S. completely.

Shion looked at her M.W.S. Her aim would have to be impeccable, though, and she'd have to be faster than lightning. If one of the other A.M.W.S. noticed Shion blasting the brains out of its friends, he would surely splatter her body against the wall. She needed to disable ten A.M.W.S. almost instantaneously, without them noticing.

Shion inhaled a shaky breath and aimed her M.W.S. at the closest mech (a considerably difficult feat, since she was practically hanging on to the pipe with her knees). No good, her arm was shaking terribly. Maybe this was a stupid idea, perhaps she should just call the whole thing off and ask Myuki to pull her out. Not all the Aeon information in the cosmos was worth her life.

"Myuki," she whispered, "this isn't working, I'm too nervous, I–" She stopped. A memory had just forced itself to the front of her mind: the first time she cast Dual Spell Ray with chaos. She remembered her initial nervousness, her fear, the consequence if her aim failed...then she remembered the warmth...feeling chaos's body behind her, his right arm around her waist in a gentle grip, his left arm over her own...

"_Don't worry, I've got you."_ He had said, and just like that, her fear evaporated. He had soothed her apprehension, infused her with strength,.

She imagined him hanging on the pipe there with her. His demeanor would be calm as usual, and his face would be serious, but then he'd brush his platinum locks away from his forehead and reveal his eyes, which were always smiling. And her heart would flutter...

"–you know what? Never mind."

Her arm stiffened, reinvigorated with steely resolve, "I know you've got me." She whispered, "just don't let go." She took another deep breath and fired the most rapid succession of charges she would ever fire in her entire life.

_One, two, three, _the A.M.W.S. units closest to Shion teetered and slumped as electric blasts exploded against their faces. _Four, five, six_, Shion's trigger finger was a blur; she was amazed at the precision of her aim, the mechs never saw her attacks coming. _Seven, eight, nine, _more surges collided into the A.M.W.S.'s heads. Now they began to notice though–too bad the pilots realized where the charges were coming from only after their mechs had been disabled.

One more. The last A.M.W.S. spun around with frightful agility. It spotted her. She fired an electro blast. The A.M.W.S. fired an Ether bomb. Shion's projectile shot across the room and met its target, sizzling in a shower of sparks. Too late! The mech's bomb left its gun turret and hurdled towards Shion a split second before her attack disabled it.

She screamed as the glowing bomb filled her vision and instinctively let go of the pipe. The wall behind her exploded and she felt the heat of fire billowing out behind her as she fell from the ceiling and crashed into a pile of storage boxes. Burning embers soared over her head.

She crouched under a box and waited in terror for the dull explosion of a bomb, for a barrage of bullets, for the searing pain of laser fire, but nothing came. She clambered out of the box and peered over its edge. Ten A.M.W.S. had toppled to the ground, electricity surging through their bodies. She had disabled all of them.

"Holy shit..." She murmured, and cursed aloud for the first time in two years. If someone had walked up to her a few months ago and told her 'Miss Uzuki, four months from now you will be hanging from a pipe in an evil organization's stronghold sniping at ten of the most powerful assault weapons ever created,' she probably would have signed that person up for an insane asylum. She began jumping around ecstatically, doing her private victory dance. She couldn't believe it. She just trashed ten assault mechs!

Her joy was short-lived however, as she spotted ten testosterone-filled pilots in sleek red and black Ormus uniforms clamber angrily out of their disabled A.M.W.S. and began marching ominously towards Shion.

She gasped, exasperated. Of course, she'd rather fight ten angry men over ten A.M.W.S. units any day, but still. She did noticed none of them were armed though. They planned to have a fist-fight. Apparently stupidity ran rampant among Ormus's soldiers.

"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you." Shion called out. It felt so weird talking to people inside the Encephalon. They were virtual entities, and for all intents and purposes completely human, but they weren't real–just bits of data stored in the E.S. Asher's mainframe. Real or not, they paid no attention to Shion's threats.

"I'm a skilled martial artist." She warned, "I've registered my hands as killer weapons with the Federation _and _I just single-handedly disabled ten A.M.W.S.. I suggest you don't cross me."

No luck. They continued to advance, attempting to surround her. She sighed. At least they couldn't say she didn't warn them...

One of the bolder pilots lunged directly towards her. She jumped back, allowing him to teeter from his own momentum, and scissor kicked him swiftly in the groin. He doubled over in pain, and she elbowed him hard in the face. He collapsed. This one wasn't getting up again.

Two more pilots attacked her. She ducked, letting them comically smash into each other, then thrust both her arms up in a double uppercut, again going for their groins. Both pilots doubled over in agony. She punched one of them in the face. _Flop,_ he hit the ground. She spun around and kicked upwards; the heel of her shoe shattered the second pilot's teeth. _Flop, _he also collapsed.

Without waiting to be attacked again, Shion hoisted herself up onto a box and pin-wheeled on her arms with her legs extended, her feet forming a wide arc and colliding with three of the other pilots' faces–one after the other. _Flop, flop, flop._

In the heat of fist-to-fist battle, Shion almost forgot she had an M.W.S. with her. She jumped off the box and raised her weapon as three more pilots attempted to jump her (were they mentally challenged?) She grinned almost evilly.

"Lunar Blade!"

A silvery beam sword erupted from her weapon. She held it out in front of her and spun around on her heel, slashing through three unlucky pilots. She watched in disgusted horror as their upper bodies snapped from their legs.

"Ugh," she groaned. At least she wouldn't feel guilty, seeing as they weren't real people.

One pilot remained. He didn't seem to notice his companions bleeding and dismembered at Shion's feet. She didn't even bother to warn him. She'd had enough–this was her most intensive Encephalon Dive ever. She swung her sword with more force than she intended, and decapitated the last pilot.

She staggered back a bit and blinked, perplexed. She looked at the ten either dead or unconscious pilots at her feet, then she lifted her gaze and saw the ten disabled A.M.W.S. units. Two of them had caught fire. Was it possible? Had she just caused all that mayhem? By herself!

"Oh...my...GOD!" She squealed, jumping around. She couldn't believe it. "Myuki, you've been awfully quiet for a while. What gives?"

There was a long pause, "I-I'm in complete and total shock. What the heck happened to you? You were quivering like a mouse when you walked into that hangar, and then you turned into this pipe climbing, charge firing, ball smashing, sword swinging demon lady that tore everything and everybody to shreds! You're unbelievable! How did you do it?"

Shion blushed uncontrollably, running a hand through her hair, "Well, Jin has been training me in martial arts since I was five, but, you know. This is going to sound terribly corny, but I thought of chaos, and he literally gave me strength. It's like I discovered this untapped power inside of me, and I wasn't afraid anymore. Pissed as hell maybe, but not afraid."

In the Dammerung's Encephalon Dive Terminal, Myuki raised her eyebrows, "Chaos? So that's his name. I bet you save that kind of power for him when the two of you are in bed–"

"Get your mind out of the gutter!" Shion fumed, "you didn't happen to record my magnificent ass whooping, did you?"

"Actually, everything that happens on this dive is stored directly to our communicators... Oh my God, we could show this footage to Harold, he'd soil his shorts!"

"That's a good idea. I thought about showing it to Jin the next time he rags on my ass for not being athletic."

"Yeah, well. Let's just get you out of there first. Do you think you can go to the western wing now? Or were you thinking of ripping up an E.S. limb by limb?"

"I'm going, I'm going." She grumbled, stepping over the bloody remains of one of the pilots, "just remind my subordinates at First Division to give me my due respect, especially during my special time of month..."

—

"I'm telling you Myuki, if this computer doesn't have the information we're looking for–after all I've been through–I'm making you write my reports for a month!" Shion scowled once she finally reached a monitor in the stronghold's western wing. To her surprise, she stood in the same room where she, KOS-MOS, and chaos had fought the fire-breathing, dragon-like Gnosis not so long ago. She was pleased the room wasn't about to collapse.

She loaded the suspect computer's archives onto the plasma screen in front of her, and something immediately caught her attention:

_...Panspermia, the theory which claims that life originated in space rather than on the planets. Panspermia states life is "seeded" into a planet through physical means. For example, this phenomenon would occur if a meteor infested with bacteria and other single-celled organisms were to crash into a planet where the conditions for life are favorable e.g. water, atmospheric oxygen, mild temperatures; allowing those bacteria to breed, and thus sparking life on that planet, which, in a sense, would make the new inhabitants aliens, since their origins lie elsewhere. _

_During the Ancient Times of Lost Jerusalem, in the earliest stages of scientific inquiry, Panspermia was one of many theories used to explain the origins of life (others being various religions that claimed that life was "created" by one or more gods .)_

_After further investigations, it has become widely accepted that life on Lost Jerusalem did indeed occur through Panspermia, but not by means of a meteor; instead, through the Zohar. Highly classified information recorded in the era shortly before mankind left Lost Jerusalem shows that an "alien energy source" undoubtedly the original Zohar was found buried in the depths of Lake Turkana located on the northern tip of Kenya, a country in Lost Jerusalem's continent of Africa. Incidentally, discoveries of the very first humanoid fossils were also found on that very lake's shores, providing irrefutable evidence that the first humans walked the earth in shockingly close proximity to the Zohar. The theory, which is now known to be true, is that the Zohar somehow gave birth to life on Lost Jerusalem, culminating in the creation of man. In short, all of humankind owes its existence to the Zohar._

_The events that transpired after the discovery of the Zohar in Lake Turkana remain shrouded in mystery, and lost in time. Whoever it was that excavated the original Zohar from Lake Turkana failed to discover how the Zohar seeded Lost Jerusalem with life. _

_To this day, it is still unknown why mankind chose to flee Lost Jerusalem, and the planet's location in the universe is also unclear, although our master identification restricted is more than certain that the long string of experiments conducted by the late Joachim Mizrahi have shed light on the mysteries of the Zohar and on the location of Abel's Arc. It is strongly believed that the CEO of Vector Industries also knows more than is safe for us to remain complacent... _

Shion's mind reeled. She gripped a chair in front of her and slid into it, her eyes and mouth wide open in amazement.

"Myuki, are you getting all of this?"

"Y-yeah. It's...shocking, to say the least. It looks like Ormus has been digging deeper for answers than all of the Federation's and Vector's efforts combined. Keep going, milk this computer for all it's got. I have a feeling we're stumbling onto something earthshattering."

"No kidding..." Shion mumbled. Tired of searching the database herself, she typed in the words "Aeon," "U-DO," and "Zohar," into the computer's search engine. The response she got was unexpected...

**_WARNING!_** _You are entering a database of AAA Class encryption status. If you have stumbled to this site by accident, or if this warning popped up automatically, then walk away from your monitor immediately: the information you seek is highly classified and you are not ready for it or its ramifications...If you are one of our upper officers, please insert override code now. You will have a single, ten-second chance before the system automatically shuts down..._

"Don't worry about that Shion, I'm hacking into the system right now...There, it should be done, all you have to do is access the link on your screen." Myuki's voice seemed strained with anticipation.

Shion stared at the glowing hyperlink on her plasma screen. "_You are not ready_"? What could Ormus be hiding that was so dangerous? Maybe it was best if she didn't look...

"Hello? Shion, did you pass out on me? Access the link!" Myuki screamed at her.

She looked at her screen, five seconds, four, three...she clicked the link and held her breath.

_**Welcome. **Ormus's AAA Class encryption database is at your fingertips. You have requested information on the following: Aeons, U-DO, Zohar. Before continuing, a true definition of the Unus Mundus is required for a complete understanding of the answers this database will be providing you. Keep in mind: everything you know about the Unus Mundus is pathetically elementary._

_**UNUS MUNDUS: **The Federation tells us it is an informational network that spans the cosmos. Not untrue, but it is like saying a planet is a sphere. In other words, the definition is lacking. The Unus Mundus (Latin for One World) is an infinite layer of reality that is completely made up of energy. Think of it as a boundless ocean constantly rippling with waves, in which all physical paradoxes are possible. For the purposes of this database, the Unus Mundus may also be referred to as the 'manifest absolute,' as the ancient Gnostic Christians called it (a.k.a God). _

_The Unus Mundus's energy waves link everything and anything in the universe, creating a cosmic web of connections: galaxy to galaxy, star to star, mind to mind. Therefore, if something happens to one part of the Unus Mundus, all its other components are affected. In humans, the Unus Mundus can be accessed through the innermost part of the unconscious domain religiously dubbed as the 'soul.' Since the beginning of time, humans have believed that after death, the unconscious domain (soul) returns to the manifest absolute (heaven) and is reunited with everything. That is neither here nor there, however, regarding the goals of our organization._

_**AEON: **An angel (according to Gnostic religion, a.k.a Seraphim). Traditionally thought to be a supernatural human that serves as a messenger/communicator/link between mankind and God, now is considered a being born in the purest, highest, and most sophisticated plane of the Unus Mundus. Aeons are gifted with extraordinary powers (far beyond the capabilities of Ether) most certainly due to their connection with the absolute manifest. _

_**U-DO: **(Unus Mundus Direct Operator) an evil, satanic force in the absolute manifest that corrupts all humans that come into contact with it. The extent to which it has poisoned the Unus Mundus is unknown. However, many cases of severe psychosis have been directly attributed to interaction with U-DO. Our intelligence speculates President Wilhelm of Vector Industries is supposedly spear-heading the creation of super-weapon that will eradicate U-DO._

_**ZOHAR: **Highly restricted. Related topics: it is believed that Aeons can interact with the Zohar and bring about incomprehensible phenomena... Our goal, regarding one Aeon in particular–_

"Shion! Look out behind you!"

Myuki's voice echoed around in her brain, startling her. She turned to see a black figure out of the corner of her eye, lurking in the shadows. She bolted from her chair and cried out in pain as she felt a cold blade slash across her right arm–from her wrist to her elbow. She flinched. A sharp blow hit her painfully between her shoulder blades and she staggered to the floor. Rolling around onto her back, she came face-to-face with her attacker: another Ormus soldier. She jumped to her feet before the attacker's scythe could sink into the soft flesh of her stomach.

"Thermal Blast!"

A bright plume of fire billowed out of her M.W.S., incinerating the soldier. He disintegrated into ash at Shion's feet.

"Shion! Shion! Are you ok? Oh my God, didn't you see him coming!"

"No...no, I was too caught up in what I was reading. How stupid of me..." She grunted, cradling her injured arm, which was now splattering blood all over the computer's keyboard.

"Open Ether circuit..." Shion shut her eyes and focused her energy. She'd been rattled, more so by the facts she had just learned than by her attacker, "Medica." Her arm stopped bleeding and sowed itself up like a zipper.

"Damn it Shion! I told you to be careful!" Myuki cried.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. I'll be alright as long as I can heal myself–"

"Yeah, well it shouldn't have to come to that!" Shion could tell Myuki was scowling, "look, don't bother reading everything we access now. It's all stored on your communicator anyway. From now on, I hack into the computer, you access the system, and then we move on, clear?"

"But–"

"You will only stay at each computer long enough for me to upload everything to our communicators, got it?"

"Um, excuse me! I believe I'm your boss, Myuki. I don't think you have the right to give me orders–"

"Then I'm pulling you out of this dive RIGHT NOW!" She bellowed, "I'm doing this for your safety and because I'm worried about you, you dumb shmuck! There will be no more injuries on this dive as long as I'm monitoring it. If you get attacked again, I'll pull you out so fast you won't have time to blink, and you better hope I'm kidding."

Shion sighed, "Alright Myuki. You win. Just do that virus thing to the computer and I'll get the disks."

The computer ejected two disks from its hard drive: _Robot Leg 1_ and _Robot Leg 2_. Myuki's blueprint guess didn't seem to be too far from the truth.

—

"Ok Shion, there should be a lock-panel on the door in front of you. That's right. You need to input the key-code: 4015. Good, it should open now. Yup. This should be it, our last stop. There are two computers in here worth looking at, I'll tell you which ones they are in a minute..."

Shion entered a large, bright room filled with pink and indigo incandescent screens glowing from the walls and what appeared to be row after row computer monitors. She had the unsettling feeling of being inside a church, but the pews were replaced with computer terminals. She shuddered. If there were an award for creepiest, high-tech bad guy control center, this place would win the gold. Thankfully, the room was empty.

"Shion, you there? If you look to your right you'll see that all the computer terminals are numbered. We're looking for one marked D-0017."

"Got it." Shion mumbled and peered at the screen closest to her. A bright neon-pink panel flashed D-0012 beside it.

"I think I'm close!" She exclaimed happily and walked briskly to the next computer, checking the flashing panel: E-7364.

"Uh...Myuki? Problem! It seems Ormus technicians don't know how to count."

"Huh? Oh, no Shion, they're not numbered numerically. They're numbered by their U.M.N. CPU identification bar code."

"Their what?"

"Never mind. Just keep looking."

"You want me to search randomly? They're like fifty computers in here!"

"Well..."

Shion growled inwardly and began combing the room for her desired computer. She walked the room's perimeter once, twice, three times, "Myuki, the freaking monitor isn't here! Are you sure you have the right number?"

"Positive. Keep looking."

An embarrassing ten minutes later, Shion finally found the elusive monitor marked D-0017. In her defense, it had been lodged into a dark corner of the room, and it's panel wasn't even flashing. (It had probably been made difficult to find on purpose.)

"I found it, Myuki. I'm going to upload everything on its database."

"Good. Remember, don't bother reading everything. Just allow everything to upload and then continue onwards."

"Fine." She growled. With the new restrictions placed on her by Myuki, Shion managed only to skim over a few quick blurbs from the computer's database.

_...path to Lost Jerusalem will be revealed once she awakens..._

_...must find this Aeon–the divine human–and use him to unleash the Zohar's power..._

_...His sacrifice will save mankind, and restore **Order **to the universe..._

_...once the Zohar's power is harnessed, combined with the appearance of Lost Jerusalem, we will be in the position to have complete and total control of the Unus Mundus! Humanity thus far has been able to use the U.M.N. for Faster Than Light communications and travel. That is merely scratching the surface. The U.M.N. opens portals to people's subconscious domains, to distant reaches of the cosmos, to parallel universes; the power gained from control of the manifest absolute will be greater than any human since the birth of man has ever imagined! Ormus will have achieved immortality..._

_..through control of the manifest absolute, we could exterminate the Gnosis forever..._

"Earth to Shion!" Myuki cried out, "We're done uploading here! Would you mind taking that disk so we can move on?"

Shion blinked. She didn't have time to read everything that flashed across her screen, but she had seen enough to know now what Ormus's intentions were. She pocketed a disk marked _Robot Body_ and searched the room for the final computer.

"Here it is." She told Myuki, amazed that she had found the computer so quickly despite the asinine numbering.

She accessed the computer and uploaded its files. Surprisingly, only one line of the computer's entire database was relevant to her search:

_We must find him. His death will bring new life to us all. _

Shion frowned. She needed a minute, hell, she needed _days _to ingest all this new information. Ormus was after someone–someone they wanted to kill–for the purposes of controlling the U.M.N., which, apparently, is now some sort of God-like, energized layer of reality. Ormus also wanted to find an Aeon, in order to use the Zohar...Could the Aeon be the person they wanted to kill? She had no idea. She had dived into the Encephalon searching for answers, but now she seemed to have more questions than when she started.

Something peculiar happened on the screen in front of her that caused her to cease thinking about Ormus for a moment. The computer in front of her vanished, leaving a gaping black hole in cyberspace.

"Er, Myuki, is the system shutting down?"

"Um...no, no I–oh _shit_!"

Shion gasped. The extent to which Myuki swore ended somewhere between "darn" and "poopy." Myuki was too refined, too bubbly, too happy-go-lucky to sink to that kind of language. Shion remembered Myuki saying "shit" before only once: two years ago when KOS-MOS malfunctioned and slaughtered her colleagues.

"What's going on?" Shion asked, slightly alarmed.

"I-I don't know how this happened! Somebody has intercepted your dive!"

Shion's mind flashed on Albedo, his eyes glowing violet. Cackling like an idiot. Her blood chilled.

"No," Myuki said, as if reading her mind, "it's not what you think. Whoever is tampering with your dive is from Vector. It's probably just an accidental Encephalon overlap, but it's still very dangerous."

"Well," Shion sighed, struggling to remain calm, "would you mind pulling me out right now? Before I get caught for using the Dive Terminal without the Director's permission?"

"I can't! Whoever is interfering with the Encephalon is blocking all dive pull-outs!" Myukis seemed to be straining not to appear alarmed.

"So...I'm stuck in cyberspace?"

"Well, I could sever the connection physically..."

"Right. Then my psyche would be trapped in the Encephalon and my real-life body would become an empty shell. That's also known as dying, Myuki. I would prefer we avoided that."

"I know, just calm down–" A static burst sizzled in Shion's mind.

"What? Myuki I can't here you!"

"–connection must be failing. Don't worry. If the interception is accidental, I can pull you out as soon as the anomaly is removed."

Shion huffed angrily and folded her arms. Although nothing serious was going on, she would still have to wait until this cyberspace intruder left her alone. Why was this interceptor blocking pull-outs anyway? She scanned her mind for the people who could have direct access to this Encephalon dive: certainly the Directors of all of Vector's divisions, the head of the U.M.N. Management Center on the Dammerung, and of course Vector's CEO, Vice President, and Chief Executive. None of those people were dangerous (to her knowledge), and Harold certainly didn't fit into any of those categories. Still, it bothered her that whoever it was had just trapped her in cyberspace and was attempting to terminate the connection between her and Myuki. She wished at least she could be stuck in a dive of a beautiful beach, instead of the dark and creepy Ormus Stronghold.

"So be it." Shion grumbled, "I can wait until the interceptor stops...er...intercepting..." She turned her head slightly and almost wet her pants. The most horrifying monster she had ever seen materialized out of the wall in front of her.

"...except the Encephalon is simulating Gnosis now!" Shion screamed, darting in a panic towards the other side of the room, "Myuki, you have to get me out of here! I-I don't even know if the Hilbert Effect is active in here!...Myuki?"

No answer.

"Myuki!"

The Gnosis lunged at her, swinging its massive arms and destroying computer terminals in its wake. Shion had seen this type of Gnosis before on Proto Merkhaba (since then she had tried to erase the memory.) It was a horrific creature, a pasty white demon with a distorted, gruesome face and a powerful, monstrous body. Ironically, it appeared freakishly angelic, with a halo above its head. Shion had forgotten its name but remembered that fighting it with KOS-MOS meant a long, tough, bloody battle. Fighting it alone would be...deadly.

"Ah!" She dodged the Gnosis before its fist could crack her skull. She realized in that moment how truly terrifying the Gnosis were. It was one thing fighting A.M.W.S. and angry men in Ormus suits. It was another fighting heartless Gnosis; they were demonic, relentless, and hostile beyond understanding.

Shion whipped around, M.W.S. in hand, and unleashed a volley of electrical charges at the monster. The Gnosis seemed to find her attacks amusing. It swiped at her with its gargantuan fist, claws extended. Her reflexes were too slow this time. The monster caught her squarely in the chest and sent her flying. She landed with a loud bang against the wall and slithered to the floor.

"Ah-I..." Her gaze dropped momentarily to her upper body. She gagged. Her uniform was caked with blood. She had an open wound somewhere...

"Gotta...fight...it..." She pulled herself off the ground but wavered and sank to her knees. She felt very strange all of a sudden...very drowsy. She doubled over and coughed up a wad of blood. She gasped, horrified—it was green! The Gnosis's claws were poisonous, and now venom was surging through her veins.

She struggled to get up, but her weapon felt incredibly heavy. Her vision fogged, and a paralyzing numbness spread from her limbs to her core as her body failed to deal with the toxins coursing through her. She collapsed entirely, sprawled on the ground with her face to the Gnosis.

"Why?" She pleaded, her vision completely blurry now. She saw the room spinning, and it seemed as if the monster were dancing around her. She groaned in pain and shifted position as she felt her own blood pool underneath her, making her uniform sopping wet. Her thoughts crumbled into an incoherent mess. Her eyes crossed.

"...not...fair..." She groaned. She felt no pain when the Gnosis slashed at her the second time.

—

"Shion? Shion!" Myuki screamed in vain at her monitor. The last thing she had heard before she lost contact with Shion was that Gnosis were in the Encephalon. What kind of a sick joke was the interceptor trying to pull?

Myuki stared in horror at Shion's motionless body in the dive chair. Since Shion's psyche in cyberspace was still connected to her body, everything that happened to her in the Encephalon was carried over into real space. Currently, she was bleeding...badly. Crimson rivulets of blood streamed down the dive chair and onto the shiny Terminal floor.

Myuki cried out in frustration. She had never felt so helpless before...well, actually she had, when KOS-MOS malfunctioned and killed all her colleagues right before her eyes. All Myuki could do was stare, terrified. The same was happening now. Shion was dying in the Encephalon, and there was nothing Myuki could do about it.

"I need to get help." She told herself, bolting out of the Terminal. Screw the wrath she would endure once the Director found out they were using the Dive Terminal without permission. This was an emergency. Shion's life was on the line.

She hurtled out onto the promenade and collided headlong into tall, slender boy.

"Oof! Get out of my way, I need...Oh my God! You-you're chaos right? Shion's friend?" Myuki gasped.

chaos nodded, looking confused. He seemed badly shaken up, but she hardly noticed.

"We-we need to get help! Shion! She's, I–"

chaos stared at Myuki. She looked utterly terrified, almost hysterical. He placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently, "Calm down! Tell me what happened."

"I–Shion dove into the Encephalon and her dive got intercepted!" Myuki almost screamed, " I can't pull her out–the connection is blocked–and now she's being attacked in cyberspace! She's wounded badly! I think–"

chaos's face turned an unhealthy, chalky white. As if he had anticipated something bad was going to happen to Shion.

"Where?" He asked, his voice grave.

"The Dive Terminal! Someone–"

"Take me there now."

She didn't bother questioning his motives. She was in too much of a panic to do that. Once Myuki led chaos into the dive terminal, Shion was still bleeding profusely, more so than before.

chaos gazed at Shion's blood-soaked body. Instead of horror, rage burned across his face.

"I'm diving in." He stated, walking towards Shion's motionless body nestled in the dive chair.

"What? Are you crazy? I can't pull you or Shion out as long as the interception persists–" "Then I will make sure the interception ceases. Time is short. I need you to monitor my dive and get me into the Encephalon immediately."

"But–you're not even armed! What could–" She paused. Something in his eyes made her stop talking. She saw something in them, a resolve that burned passionately. Something told her he would stop at nothing to get Shion out of the Encephalon alive.

She picked up a pair of dive goggles on the desk beside her and tossed them at him, "Fine," she ran to her computer, "I'll monitor your dive, but there's no telling if our connection will remain intact once you're in the Encephalon."

chaos nodded, donning the dive goggles, "I understand. I presume the connection will re-establish itself once I take care of..." His gaze fell to Shion's bleeding body. He sank to his knees behind the dive chair and wrapped his arms around her, "just...please. Hurry."

He didn't hear Myuki's response, since his psyche was already hurtling through cyberspace.

—

chaos was a speeding white blur. He bolted through the Ormus Stronghold like lightning, wings fully extended and fists glowing in a silvery aura. He soared over A.M.W.S units, pulverizing anything in his path: mechs, Gnosis, walls, humans. The expression on his face as he hurled through the stronghold seemed to be made of stone. He was furious. His enemy had gotten the best of him, despite all his efforts to protect her. The reality of it all slapped him hard in the face; soon he would feel helpless, pathetic, distraught, guilt-ridden, but not now. Now he only felt rage.

_Pretend you have the freedom not to get involved_.

That sanctimonious bastard! Toying with him–with _her_!–just to prove a point! chaos's fists came down hard on the wall in front of him, crippling the room's framework and sending white shockwaves throughout stronghold. The situation had to be remedied. He had to make amends instead of losing track of his priorities. Nothing was more important than her safety. He would insure it, no matter what the cost, no matter what the sacrifice.

He soared through the weapons hangar. Nobody had told him where she was, but he knew. He could feel it. He could feel her fighting for her life. She was losing. The flame was going to die...

"Ugh." He bashed another wall with his fists and shot through it like a glowing bullet. He came upon the Ormus computer center, and the macabre sight below him chilled him to the bone. The blood. The gore. The Gnosis was tearing through her...plunging its venomous claws into...How horrible!...

Shion groaned in agony, her vision made blurry by her own blood. Colors swam and melted into each other. She looked up at the heavens, praying for death, for release from this torture. Contact with the Gnosis was gruesome and horrifying. She'd had enough, she wanted out...

An angel. She blinked the stinging blood out of her eyes. An angel was floating high above her, the feathers from its wings fluttering down to her. A smile cracked across her green face, saturated with venom. A single feather spun slowly through the air and landed on the bridge of her nose. It felt wonderful, she longed to feel its texture between her fingers. It was the most beautiful feather she had ever seen. It seemed to be glowing with the power of the afterlife...Afterlife. She wanted death. Sweet release...

"ANGEL BLOW!"

She heard a voice amidst the sound of the Gnosis's gnashing teeth. The ground around her erupted into white light, and ethereal spears plunged themselves into the Gnosis's body. The monster exploded in a shower of bright sparks. A disk flew out of the Gnosis's vaporized body and landed with a sick _smack_ on Shion's bloody stomach: _Robot Head._

The angel sped towards her like a flash of lightning, and was on top of her before her foggy vision could adjust.

She had seen that face before. She knew this angel. Those eyes...

"chaos?..."

He pressed his hands to her chest and unleashed a surge of silvery energy. She felt a shockwave propagate through her body. Startling her. Awakening her. Snapping her into consciousness. She gasped, oxygen filling her lungs as blood receded from her mouth and nose. Warm, soothing waves of white light caressed her, clearing her vision, healing her wounds, restoring order to her thoughts, destroying the poison in her bloodstream. She felt the most incredible sensation of peace wash over her. All her pain was gone. This must be heaven...

"Come on!" She heard his voice dance on the edge of her mind. She focused her clearing vision on chaos's face. His emerald eyes, they were...crying? "Come back Shion! Come back!" He infused her body with more light, energy rippling from his fingertips.

He was right. She didn't want death. She didn't want release. Not yet. There was still too much left to do. The weakening venom was gone from her system now. She wanted to live.

"Ah!" A moan burst from her lips as she felt life tear its way back into her. Her thoughts exploded back into her mind. Clarity returned to her vision, and all her senses came rushing back to her.

She reached up and pulled chaos into an embrace. She ran her lips across his cheek and snaked her arms around his back. She could feel his wings. She exhaled happily and ran her hands through his feathers. They felt heavenly, more so then she could have ever imagined. She gingerly picked up the feather that had landed on her nose and pocketed it.

"Oh, chaos..." She breathed happily. The light that had healed her had done something to her. Air never tasted this good before. She wanted to hold him forever, feel his wings brush across her face, "thank you..."

She got up to her knees and felt chaos's face sink into her lap. He grabbed her waist and held her tightly, as if someone where trying to take her away from him. His body shook violently. She frowned. Something was terribly wrong. He was crying.

"chaos, what's the matter?" She put a hand to his cheek and felt tears stream through her fingers. She was confused. What was going on? She'd never seen him like this before. She'd never seen _anyone _like this before.

"Damn it!" He cried out.

_If you carry on like this her blood will be on your hands...she will suffer greatly._

"He was right!" He sobbed angrily, pounding the ground with his fist, "that bastard was right..."

—

Shion would have felt incredibly relieved once Myuki finally pulled her and chaos out of the dive, but she was too confused and perplexed to feel much relief. chaos seemed very cold and distant all of a sudden. The events after the dive appeared to her very murky and unreal. She felt like she were walking through a strange, wavering dream as she followed him to the Dammerung's main terminus. Shuttles around her were departing at break-neck speed from the Dammerung's ports like fleeting hopes and dreams. chaos carried a very grim expression on his face.

"Shion. I feel there's something I must do. You're–you're too precious to me. I'm through with endangering you."

His words warmed her heart, but she felt an unsettling gravity in his voice that worried her. She felt like she was teetering on the edge of a high precipice.

"What do you mean?" She asked nervously.

"I can't stay here with you anymore. I have to leave."

"What!–"

"Please don't be upset." He bit his lip, "There are stronger forces at work that are bigger than the two of us. There are things you don't know..."

She stared at him, shocked, "You got that right! I don't know. I don't know anything! I have no idea what's going on because you never tell me anything! If you'd just open up to me instead of being mysterious and cold all the time–"

chaos hung his head, "it's not like that."

"What the hell is it like then?" She yelled, but realized he was crying softly.

"I know you've been left in the dark about certain things, but try to understand. It's for your safety. This isn't easy for me. I–I care too much for you."

Shion's gaze softened. She fought back tears. She grabbed his hand and held it, "chaos, I care for you too, m–more deeply than I thought. You're so important to me; I thought–"

He shook his head sadly and gently pulled his hand away. She felt the warmth of his fingers leave her. She didn't get it; her face flushed red angrily. She refused to accept what was happening.

chaos blinked. Tears fell from his cheeks, "Don't be mad, it's not what you think. At first I thought I was needed to protect you and the others, but now I've realized that I'd just be a hazard to your safety..."

Shion's mouth fell open. Her expression was confused, furious, dumbfounded, sorrowful, tear-stained, "So, so you're just going to walk out of my life now?" She whispered.

He winced as if she had just stabbed him. His gaze fell, and his platinum locks fell over his eyes, "Your journey, Shion, continue it. Keep your friends close. A lot of good will come out of it. I'm just not a part of it anymore."

She just stared at him for a moment as he turned to board the shuttle behind him. She meant to grab him, slap him, kiss him, do something to prevent his leaving, but as she stepped forward a shuttle technician (who had seemed to freakishly appear out of nowhere) grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Stand back please, Miss. This shuttle is departing."

"No!" She screamed, "Wait!"

The shuttle's thrusters flared to life with startling efficiency. She watched crestfallen as the spacecraft sped away from the port and out of the Dammerung. Her dream, her hope, had just left her. She felt as if a part of her had been ripped away.

—

"I don't get it. I just don't get it. It feels like the ground tore open beneath my feet. I've never felt so awful before..." Shion sniffled. She sat slumped on a bench with Myuki outside the First Division offices.

Myuki held her thunder stricken friend, "but, I mean, did you actually say 'I love you, don't go'?"

Shion looked at up Myuki, "no, obviously not. Damn, Myuki! Do you want him to stomp my heart into the ground completely? I'm hurting enough as it is!"

Myuki's shoulders sagged, "yeah. I guess so...but, I don't understand! He was genuinely worried about you when you were–uh–when you had that problem in the Encephalon. I mean, it was like you were the meaning of his existence..."

"Whatever," Shion ran a hand through her hair and shook her head dejectedly, "I don't understand either. I need time to think, I need time to...sort all this garbage out." She sighed, wiping her tears, "oh great, I have to brief the team in five minutes." She stared at her friend, "does it look like I'm ready to get up in front of a bunch of people and act composed...self-assured...not crestfallen beyond repair!" She scowled.

Myuki shrugged, "well, maybe you can postpone or something. I—hey, isn't that the Director?" She pointed to what appeared to be a very, very angry man storming out of the First Division offices. He marched up to the bench Shion and Myuki were sitting in.

"Good afternoon, Director." Shion managed to choke out, getting up from the bench.

"Have you lost your mind completely, or are you just stupid?" He scowled, "Illegal Encephalon diving using the First Division Terminal! What the hell were you thinking!"

"Director please, I–"

"Who gave you the right to use the Terminal to dive into the seedy stronghold of a criminal organization? With Gnosis simulation! Have you any idea how incredibly dangerous that is?"

Shion gazed at her blood-stained uniform, "yeah, I think I do–"

"I gave you the benefit of the doubt, Uzuki. I trusted your judgement. I never once dreamed that you would ever do something so stupid, and _illegal_! Have you any idea what will happen to my–I mean our reputation if this gets out!" He fumed, "I believed you to be clear-headed, intelligent, and responsible, Uzuki. I was wrong on all three counts."

"But–"

"AND! I discovered you failed to debug KOS-MOS's aggressive neural processor! Do you think it's safe to have a killer android running around with a possibly malfunctioning A.I.?"

"That debugging is a sham!" Both the Director and Shion blinked. Myuki had spoken up. She was on her feet and pointing a finger in her director's face, "you have no right to talk to Shion that way! You're not half the engineer that she–"

"I would stop talking right now, before you regret ever having joined the KOS-MOS development team." He snapped. Something in the Director's tone of voice made Myuki hold her tongue.

He turned his attention back to Shion, "Your irresponsible, illegal activities will not soil Vector's name. You've shown an appalling lack of good judgement–"

Shion finally flew off the handle, "Oh, be reasonable! Are you going to give me time to explain or are you going to continue inflating your ego with this power trip? Maybe my God-damn dive revealed some crucial information on KOS-MOS, information which you sir, refuse to reap for yourself because you were appointed to your position instead of working for it and choose to sit on your ass all day instead of–"

"Shion Uzuki, you're _fired_!"

She staggered back, shocked, "What!"

"I will not have the likes of you leading my division or heading KOS-MOS's development. You will have twenty-four hours to pack your belongs and leave the Dammerung." He whipped out Shion's last paycheck and shoved it into her shaking hands, "Goodbye, Uzuki. I used to think you were quite good." He smirked and left.

Myuki started to say something, but Shion couldn't hear her. She sank to her knees and held her head. This couldn't be happening. She refused to believe any of it. Her entire world had just crumbled before her. She could hardly process it. _Fired_! Vector was her career, her home, her _life_! She suddenly felt very sick, as if a part of her just died. This had to be a nightmare, or maybe she did die before, and this was Hell.

"My–my job..." she whispered, too shocked to cry. Her hopes, her dreams, her ambitions, all crushed to bits. The promises she had made to herself after Kevin's death...the oath she had made to her parents at their funeral that she would one day make a positive difference...all broken...all shattered. Her world was spinning out of control. It felt like she was falling...falling through an endless abyss, where dreams came to die...

Her communicator beeped. Once...twice...She picked it up and answered, completely dazed.

"Hello?"

The connection was horrible, and the voice on the other end came and went in static bursts, "Shion! It's Jr.–"

"Jr.! Oh my God, what's going on? Are you alright?" She miraculously found a hidden strength within her and got to her feet.

"Made it to Old Miltia—are terrible—badly wounded."

"What? Jr. I can't hear you! Did you find Feb's sisters?"

"...yeah, but–"

She gasped, fearing the worst, "Are they dead?"

"No, but they're...look, things are just, really, really bad. You have to get here right away!"

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Gasp! Just how bad can things get? This story is heading dangerously for a sad and tragic ending! Before you despair though, know this: it has to get worse before it gets better.

Some copyright stuff: I did some research for the info on Panspermia, Aeons, and the Unus Mundus, but everything else in italics I pretty much pulled out of my ass. And oh yeah, Xenosaga isn't mine, blah, blah, blah...

Ok, one last thing: I love and thank all my reviewers, but I think Wends deserves some special recognition; it's not everyday one of my loyal readers (snigger don't laugh! That's what I like to call them!) dedicates her service to the Navy. Good luck and take care! And feel free to squee like a fangirl whenever you like, I think you've earned the right.

Anyhow, all my reviewers will be thanked in one form or another by the end of this story (what? I'm not trying to bribe you into reviewing my fic. What are you thinking?)

The next chapter will also have plenty of butt-whooping but not so much heart-breaking, world-crushing angst, since this one delivers plenty of that.

Share your thoughts, R/R!


	6. Chapter 6

How long can a chapter be? Not much longer than this, I don't think...

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**Borne Up on Angel Wings**

**Chapter Six**

---

Lips pursed, cheeks tear-stained, with white knuckles, Shion tore through the nothingness of space faster than a ray of light. She hurtled through the inky darkness, void of any light or life for thousands of light-years across. She had never felt more alone.

If she had come to terms with reality, she would have realized that she was the only living thing for miles in a mind-blowing expanse of space—the closest star was millions of astronomical units away—and the discovery that she truly was alone, both physically as well as emotionally (and spiritually too, for if there really was a God, she would find no greater pleasure right now than to punch Him) would have shattered the remainder of her broken heart. However, in her current state, she refused to come to terms with anything. She still reeled from the double shock that had slapped her across the face a few hours ago.

_Your journey, Shion, continue it. I'm just not a part of it anymore... _

Slap.

_Shion Uzuki, you're fired!_

Slap.

Her eyes still burned from the tears; they watered and her vision clouded, much like her mind. She assumed it was a defense mechanism. If she were to truthfully analyze the implications of her situation, she probably wouldn't be able to get up from the floor after she collapsed. She still didn't know how she managed to get this far, and was amazed that she could stay awake, not wallow in her depression, and pilot one of Vector's latest combat shuttles without so much as a shiver.

"Myuki, I need a shuttle, now." She had said only moments after she discovered her life had been smashed to bits. She didn't care how Myuki went about getting the shuttle; she didn't even care if what she was doing was legal. She just needed to get away, and for a few tormented moments she didn't give a damn how. Luckily for her, Myuki was dating the head of Second Division's Spacecraft Development, and by pulling a few strings in a way only Myuki could pull, she managed to obtain for Shion the latest, smallest, fastest, deadliest shuttle that had ever been forged by Vector Industries. The one-manned spacecraft really was a jewel of Second Division's minds—sleek, compact, faster than any other craft that flew between the stars, and equipped with powerful laser cannons that bore holes through concrete and were so precise a skilled pilot could shoot the antenna of an enemy ship in hyperspace—but as far as Shion was concerned, she didn't care if she were flying in a cardboard box. She did enjoy the speed though, how she shot across the Dammerung like a bullet, soaring past her career, her home, her life. She left it all behind her; one second she was there, the next she wasn't, and she felt guiltily happy that she had, in reality, stolen one of Vector's most prized creations. Myuki had neglected to tell her until the very last minute that Shion was flying a prototype—the only shuttle of its kind in existence.

But all that was insignificant now. Although her eyes shed tears, she kept them focused. Deadly focused. In light of the loss of her life (at least as far as her career was concerned) and the loss of her love, the scope and purpose of her mission snapped back into her mind like the safety lock of a pistol: She was going to stop Ormus, and she would save Feb's sisters. The universe could shatter tomorrow, it didn't matter, Shion made a promise to Nephilim and to herself...And to chaos: _You're journey, Shion, continue it_. She had every intention of keeping it.

Besides, she dreaded what would happen if she _didn't _keep her eyes focused ahead–on her mission. Even if she paused to admire the scenery, (the big black space between the Dammerung and Old Miltia), she risked crumbling into a sobbing heap. The stars and the sheer vastness of the universe, what once used to be a symbol of hope for her, now became one of despair. The stars were the light, they were the hope, and they were few and far between. She was so far away from them now that their light didn't even illuminate her. How pitifully symbolic–she had lost all hope, and now the stars refused to shine on her. (It didn't help that every time she saw a point of light in the blackness of space it reminded her of him. Especially since there were, what, a couple billion stars in the part of the cosmos she was crossing, give or take a few?) She had never felt more in tune with her state of mind. She was literally floating through emptiness, darkness.

Yet, in spite of her persistence to keep her focus, she couldn't help but feel the sinking, drowning, suffocating sensation that came with the realization that she may never see KOS-MOS again. She feared that if she pondered too much on that horrific thought she'd lose her resolve completely.

But she would not, and she could not. Shion Uzuki had been through hell and back. It started when her parents were murdered on Old Miltia, then her brother left her out in the cold, then Kevin died. She had picked herself up and started over before, and she would do it again. It was so true that what didn't kill her made her stronger, and damn was she strong. Today she would come full circle, settling a score on Old Miltia where her own personal hell had begun, and hopefully crush the forces that had taken away her loved ones once and for all. She had cried, she had bemoaned her existence, she had momentarily sunk to a miserable heap, but her resolve was steely, the grip on her shuttle's controls firm and unwavering, and today she would kick ass. And, unbeknownst to her, she would start a chain of reactions that would forever alter the fate of humanity.

—

Old Miltia. A submerged city in ruins. The sight of a civilization frozen in time and void of life chilled her, but she bolted across the planet's landscape so fast that nothing seemed to register. At first, Old Miltia appeared in her line of vision as a tiny speck of light in the cosmos among the myriad of stars and illuminated planets. Two seconds later, the entire planet's landmass lay sprawling underneath her. She had never traveled in a shuttle that flew this fast before. Using her spacecraft's Logic Drive warping technologies, she had the ability to warp space in front and behind her, giving her the impression of traveling faster than the speed of light, even outside the U.M.N. This phenomenon gave her an incredible element of surprise. Since she traveled faster than light, she would arrive on Old Miltia before her enemies could see her.

She gunned her shuttle across Old Miltia's open oceans, and in the blink of an eye she came upon the towering monstrosity known as Labyrinthos. The Zohar was in there, as were Feb's sisters. Naturally, the whole of Labrynthos's outer area was heavily guarded by A.M.W.S., sentinels, and other such mechanical weapon systems.

They didn't even see her coming. Shion unleashed a rapid blast of laser cannon fire and completely vaporized the enemy's first line of defense. Her proximity to Labyrinthos forced to slow down her thrusters considerably, and the light caught up with her, bringing her shuttle into view. Not that it mattered. She fired her cannons with reckless abandon and mercilessly ripped apart the A.M.W.S. below her.

"You're flying in restricted airspace!" An angry, male voice crackled from her shuttle's intercom, "surrender immediately!" She hit the throttle and switched her cannons to maximum output. Today she felt no pity, no compassion, no regrets. Her aim was unflinching and merciless. Flashes of blue laser fire erupted from her shuttle's hull and sailed out in front of her, leaving a path of obliteration in her wake. She ripped the mechs below her apart like paper and felt strangely happy about the damage she was inflicting on Ormus.

She gazed momentarily at Labyrinthos. Jr. and the others had probably started from its base, dismounted from their E.S.'s, and worked their way up Labyrinthos's waterlogged interior. Shion didn't have time to climb the towering structure. She shot around Labyrinthos in a tight circle and blasted a hole in its wall. Flying her shuttle through the hole, she swooped into the structure, landed, and dismounted, M.W.S. at the ready.

She ran up the first set of stairs she saw and found a metal terrace that looked up into Labyrinthos's tower. From her current position, it seemed that she had blasted herself into the tower's middle, about halfway to where she believed the Zohar had been stored. Water gurgled menacingly beneath her—she had a good 200 foot drop to the base of the tower, where if she fell she'd meet her watery grave. Her communicator didn't pick up any signal, not surprising, since Old Miltia was an abandoned planet. She would have to find her friends by trial and error.

One thing she absolutely couldn't do though: panic. Jr. had told her the situation was grim. She'd never heard him so agitated before.

"Ha!–"

Shion started at the sound and spun around, slashing the air with her M.W.S. in a wide arc. Voices were echoing down from the floor above her, no doubt a battle was raging up there. She heard shouts and cries of pain. It didn't sound like the battle was going well for either party. Then she heard gunshots.

"Jr.!" She cried, and raced up the stairs.

Bullet holes had peppered the wall to her right as she bolted up the flight of stairs and took off down a hallway. Shouts became louder as she approached a steel door which had been forced shut with such power that the wall around it had cracked and splintered. The sound of gunfire slammed around her brain like a gong.

"Gah!" Her hand smacked the panel besides the door, but to no avail. It was fused shut.

Inhaling a shaky breath, she fired a heavy barrage of electric blasts at the door, all the while intensely focusing her Ether energy. The door buckled under her attacks and finally burst out into the previously inaccessible room, smacking head-on into a startled Ormus soldier.

"Shion!" Jr. exclaimed once he spotted her. He never seemed so happy to see her. His coat was bloodied and his face badly bruised. It appeared he had been fighting the battle of his life. He was alone, surrounded by Ormus thugs, who unlike him were not so enthusiastic about Shion's flashy door-blasting entrance. She burst into the room, bristling with Ether energy.

"Open Ether Circuit...HEAVEN'S RAIN!" She screamed and staggered back as an overwhelming amount of energy left her body. A silvery aura appeared in the air above them, shimmering and crackling with thunder, and blasted Shion's enemies with wispy missiles. They all dropped to the floor like rag dolls.

Shion stumbled and tripped, reeling from the Ether drain, but Jr. sprinted forward and pulled her back to her feet.

"I'm really glad you're here." He choked, not giving her time to respond, and instead grabbed her forearm and yanked her jerkily down an abandoned hallway. "These Ormus guys are everywhere," he gasped through ragged breaths, "they even took out the Federation Fleet, and they're heavily armed." He and Shion turned a corner, spotted a few lumbering A.M.W.S. units, and wheeled back around, heading up the tower in a different direction.

"The group got separated." He shouted above the sound of laser fire, "imagine how bad things could possibly be."

"I think I have an idea." Shion grunted, trying to keep up with him after having used up so much energy. Jr. seemed very agitated.

"Well, it's worse. A few Ormus bastards ambushed us once we reached the Zohar–the original one–and kidnaped MOMO. I got attacked by an army of soldiers and they managed to push me back this far." He couldn't help but smirk, evidently gloating in the fact that he had managed to hold his own against a troop of bad-asses despite his injuries. "The last I saw of Ziggy was when he was fighting to rescue MOMO, but I have no idea what happened to him...Jin is locked in combat with Margulis. I-I really don't know if anybody is ok..." His voice trailed off.

Shion flinched, thinking of her brother, "Margulis? You mean that horrid man from U-TIC?"

"Yeah, oh, we made some major discoveries. Apparently Joachim Mizrahi is totally innocent. He was used. A super company named Hyams financed U-TIC and other such organizations, which all turned out to be puppets, to conduct experiments on the Zohar and fund Mizrahi's research."

She gasped, "So...so the incident fourteen years ago..."

"Yup" He ducked and shoved Shion out of the way of a searing laser blast. "That was the Immigrant Fleet's (Ormus's) doing. And if they get their hands on the Zohar, a repeat of what happened here fourteen years ago is likely to occur again."

Shion's skin crawled. She especially knew what terrifying things Ormus could do with the Zohar: _total control of the Unus Mundus_!

She planned to question him further, but she screamed instead, as a white-hot laser sizzled over their heads and melted a chunk of wall in front of them. The explosion it caused was rather alarming.

"Jr.," she panted, ducking, "is that E.S. cannon fire?"

He nodded grimly. "Did I mention this place is crawling with ruthless badies...and we're so outnumbered it's not even fun anymore?"

She craned her neck behind her to see a fearsome E.S. (not much different from the Issacher) firing a very intimidating cannon...at them. A group of soldiers trailed at the E.S.'s feet, equipped with flamethrowers. Plumes of fire billowed out of the weapons' nozzles.

"Oh my God, Jr...Jr. we're going to die!"

"Tough shit. Hell's not good enough for us." He yanked her out of the way of a particularly dangerous explosion and both of them hurdled down the hall, away from the E.S., only to meet another army of soldiers with flamethrowers flaring to life.

'Don't panic, don't panic,' she told herself, 'STOP PANICKING!' Her heart drummed against her chest, tired from all the frantic running. Her eyes darted around the room, and found something interesting. She nodded her head at an elevator a few feet in front of them, and Jr. took the hint.

"Ether drive...Misty!" He hollered, unleashing his spell, and shoved her towards the elevator, out of the way of cannon fire.

A thick fog enveloped them, obscuring their enemies' aim and rendering the flamethrowers momentarily useless in the humid air. Shion bolted for the elevator, and forced the doors open, deciding against the idea of calling it and waiting for it to arrive while an E.S. took point-blank shots at her. She stared down the empty elevator shaft and, without thinking twice, jumped. Jr. was close on her heels. The doors slammed shut behind them, and they tumbled onto a ledge protruding out into the shaft. Dull explosions rocked the doors above them.

"Did-did they see where we went?" Shion gasped, pulling herself up from the metal floor she had hit with more force than she would have preferred.

"No." Jr. grunted, wiping a smear of blood from the corner of his mouth, "I don't think so."

She took a few long breaths, monitoring her surroundings. They were in a dark elevator shaft. The snapped chord above her told her that the elevator was probably not operational at the moment. She and Jr. waited in an eerie silence for the explosions above them to cease.

"Whew," Jr. sighed, slumping to his knees, "when the shit hits the fan..."

Shion laughed. She knew exactly how he felt.

"Look, Shion, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to come here. I feel insanely guilty for being glad you came. Even though you sort of saved my ass back there. Nice Ether skill by the way."

She waved her hand at him, "No, shut up, don't even say you're guilty. I would have come here anyway. You came to this God-forsaken place on my account, didn't you? I should be the one apologizing. Do you really think I'd have left you and the others here?" In reality, she actually felt glad that she was needed.

"Heh, heh. No. I guess not. Um..." He paused, unsure of how to approach his question, "I noticed you trashed a lot of A.M.W.S. outside in a very fancy shuttle. But...it looked like a one-man craft..."

She said nothing.

"So, er, where's chaos?"

A lump got caught in her throat, and she turned around, suddenly unable to make eye contact, "Jr., you have no idea how bad things really are."

And she told him. How chaos had mysteriously left. How she'd been fired, and how KOS-MOS would no longer be fighting with them.

Jr. gaped, shell-shocked, "So...but...he just left? Why?"

She laughed a cold, cynical laugh. "Hell should I know? He mumbled something about being a hazard to our safety. I don't even know where he is right now. And I wish I didn't care..." Her lip quivered, and she began to blink furiously.

Jr. was shocked into a long silence before he spoke up in a somber whisper, "I'm–I'm so sorry Shion. I don't get it. That's not like chaos at all. There's definitely something we don't know."

"No kidding." She grunted.

"Don't worry. We'll find out. But KOS-MOS? Man, that's...awful. What're are they going to do to her now?"

"I would really rather not think about it."

"Right. Sorry. As for your job though, you can come work at Kukai. We're dying for engineers like you, and I'll pay you twice as much whatever those jerks at Vector offered you."

She smiled, "That's very nice of you, Jr. But I doubt it." She pulled out her last paycheck and showed him the dollar amount.

His mouth dropped to the floor, "Um...ok, maybe not twice as much..."

She chuckled, "Yeah well...I don't get chaos either."

A rumble shook the elevator shaft and she fell on all fours, holding the ground.

"Ah!" Her hand flew out and she gripped the shaft's wall for extra support. She felt something slick and oily.

"Ew, what the..." She looked at her hand. It was covered in black petroleum.

"Oh God," she laughed coldly and looked up towards the sky in a sign of hopelessness, "Jr., they're greasing the elevator shaft with gasoline!"

His gaze met the wall. Sure enough, liquid gas was dribbling down its surface, pooling at the ledge they were standing on.

"They plan to roast us alive." She explained, "the fire will burn up all the oxygen in this shaft, and a wall of flame will come hurtling toward us in its search for more air to burn, guided by the gas."

Jr. began to chuckle, "aw, man. Just when you thought it couldn't be worse. We are so screwed. We're gonna be barbequed!" He started laughing with her, not quite sure why. Surely nothing was funny. He just felt so cynical, so hopeless. In the end, life screws you over anyway. Too bad for those who didn't take the high road.

As Shion sat there, giggling in what was fast becoming a death trap, she realized how much she and Jr. had in common. They were on the same wavelength, both terribly down-to-earth and both somewhat jaded by life. She knew he understood her—what she was feeling and how love had dealt her a painful blow, and she related more to his problem with Albedo than anybody. Neither of them ever hoped against hope, or relied on empty promises. They knew what life was and they took it for what it was. She knew Kevin was never coming back, and he knew Albedo–at least the Albedo he used to know–was never coming back, and they both swallowed their bile and dealt with it. Their lives had even overlapped more often than either thought, as was evidenced by the Encephalon dive in KOS-MOS's mainframe constructed by their memories.

Shion had read somewhere that friendship was the purest form of love, since there was no lust or physical attraction to complicate things. She'd only known Jr. for a very short while, but the experiences they went through together had bolstered their friendship into something everlasting. She knew now that she could always lean on his shoulder when times got rough, and he on hers. As she stared death in the face, she was glad that she had fostered a friend who understood her, who was willing to risk his life to save her, as she was for him.

Jr. seemed to be sharing her thoughts, "love sucks." He blurted.

"Hm?"

"I totally understand you. Love is a load of shit. I know...Albedo, he was always so jealous of Sakura. It always felt like he was trying to poison us. He thought she was a slut...what an asshole...I cared so much for both of them. He made me feel like I had to choose..."

Shion smiled at him sympathetically, but a look of realization suddenly swept over her face, "Ooohh, I get it."

"You get what?"

"That's why you're so hot for MOMO. It's because you were in love with Sakura. I was trying to figure that out..."

"What are you talking about?" His face flushed crimson.

"Come on, Jr. We're both in tune with each other. You were the first to notice when I started running circles around chaos, and I know you've got it bad for MOMO. I mean, it's kind of obvious."

He glared at her, "you're so full of it!"

She raised an eyebrow, "Yeah? Maybe so. Now that I think about it, I guess you couldn't have cared much about her if you gave her a bullet for a present."

Jr. significantly changed his tune, "What! That bullet was freaking awesome! It said 'sayonara baby' on it!"

Shion nodded, "oh yes. Very romantic gift, a bullet. It's right up their with a bouquet of flowers and a _chainsaw_!"

"Hey, shut up!"

They both laughed, even as they looked up nervously for the sign of a match being lit.

"You know," he began, "the two of us, we've always been kinda...you know...on top of things more than the others. We...we know what's going on, and we've always been able to..."

"Rely on each other?" She offered helpfully.

"Yeah! That's it. I-I really am glad you're here. It's good to have a shoulder to lean on."

She smiled, "I was thinking the exact same thing."

There was a long pause.

"You know what?" Jr. spoke up, "you're pretty cool, Uzuki."

"You're not so hot yourself."

"Thanks...Hey!"

They laughed again, "No, you're right." Shion said, "love does suck. I lost KOS-MOS, chaos abandoned me, and...oh God." She bit her lip, "he just walked out on me..."

Jr. looked at her seriously, and for a moment he shed his hard, cynical skin, "We won't walk out on you, Shion. Not me or MOMO, or Ziggy, or obviously your brother, or any of the members of the Elsa's crew or the Kukai foundation."

She looked at him imploringly, slightly unconvinced because most of the constants in her life had been shattered, "you won't?"

"No," he grinned, "friends don't walk out on each other."

She smiled warmly, and for an instant she felt her heart lift off the ground. Then another dull explosion shook the shaft and the warrior within her woke up.

"Well," she said, "I've been thinking about this burning to death thing, and I don't like it." She marched over to the petroleum-soaked wall, found her footing, and began climbing.

"What are you doing?" Jr. asked, slightly worried that she had flown off the deep end.

"What's it look like? I don't know about you, but I'm not going down without a fight. That E.S. can't be _that_ much stronger than an A.M.W.S."

Jr. eyed her incredulously, "you want to fight that thing on foot? Are you crazy?"

"Nope, just a little pissed. I took out ten A.M.W.S. units single-handedly, you know?" She gloated happily.

"Yeah, and I learned how to fart the Federation's national anthem."

"I'm serious, Jr.! It's all recorded on my communicator. I wasted ten A.M.W.S. and I kicked Ormus ass left and right." She really couldn't help grinning.

Jr. eyed her suspiciously for a minute, then his expression turned into a shocked admiration, "I am never going to make fun of you ever, ever again. Where do you preform such a phenomenal ass whopping?"

It was so un-ladylike to gloat, and she loved not caring, "In an Encephalon Dive in the Ormus Stronghold, when I was researching the Aeons and how the U.M.N. is the absolute something-or-other."

"Wow," Jr. breathed, "oh, you mean Gnostic Angels and the manifest absolute?"

Shion fell off the wall and crashed onto the ledge, "You know about that!" She almost screamed.

Jr. shrugged, "Yeah, of course. The Durandal has been collecting Zohar Emulators for a long time now. I know all about the Aeons and a higher plane of existence and the Unus Mundus's unconscious domain and all that other supernatural, religious crap. Why?"

She stared shamelessly at him with her mouth hanging open, "you, you could have spared me a very, very painful Encephalon Dive." She blurted and suddenly realized how stupid she had been. Shion had deliberately chosen to keep her friends in the dark about Nephilim's prophecies, and now she was paying a massive price, especially when Jr. probably had more answers for her than the entire Ormus database.

"I'm such an idiot," she breathed, "no more secrets now. I promise Jr., once we get out of this mess I'm going to tell you guys everything. I'm through trying to be secretive." She looked up at him, "friends don't hide things from each other."

Jr. grinned, "come on," he helped her up the wall, "let's go kick some ass."

—

"**ARCHANGEL'S REQUIEM!**"

A million feathery bursts of light erupted from the elevator's doors and showered down upon the unsuspecting Ormus troops and the E.S.. Shion and Jr. bolted out of the elevator shaft and took off past the soldiers who were being pummeled by the blasts from their dual tech attack. Enemies dropped all around Shion as she and Jr. approached the E.S.

"Aim for the head!" She screamed, firing a stream of charges from her M.W.S. towards the ceiling. Her blasts ricocheted off the walls and hit the E.S.'s shoulder blade.

"Got it." He wheeled around, firing at soldiers who hadn't been hit by their dual tech, then he ducked for the floor, avoiding a burning shot from the E.S.'s canon.

"Moonlit Serenade!" He aimed for the E.S.'s head and a narrow beam erupted from his guns and hit the E.S. squarely in the face. The mech staggered backwards.

"That's as good as it's gonna get!" She told him, electrocuting a soldier who had attempted to incinerate her. "Let's move!" They ran in between the E.S.'s legs and headed up the stairs behind it.

"These jerks...they're everywhere!" Jr. grunted, firing shots at his enemies as he tore up the stairs. Fire billowed around them as Ormus soldiers attempted to singe off their clothes with flamethrowers.

"Jr., boost your ether..." She whispered, concentrating her energy.

"Open Ether circuit..."

"Ether Drive..."

"ICE BLAST!"

Frosty novas erupted from their fingertips and crystalized around their enemies' feet. Ormus soldiers staggered and fell, their fire weapons now useless. The ice that had formed around the stairs also prevented other soldiers from chasing Shion and Jr.. Groups of soldiers slipped on the ice and fell, tumbling down and forming a human heap at the base of the stairs. The E.S. lumbered toward the pile of fallen soldiers and skidded on the ice, collapsing with a rumbling crash on top of the Ormus cronies behind it.

"Oh yeah! We rock, can't touch this!..." Jr. sang.

"Shut up!" She hissed, grabbing him, "move it!"

She and Jr. bolted for Labyrinthos's summit, trashing mechs and shooting at any enemies that came into view. Luckily, the Ormus thugs seemed to thin out as they progressed up the tower.

"In there!" Jr. pointed to a massive steel door, and they raced into a huge room with scaffolding that ran up its walls. An analysis tower stood in its center. "That's where we analyzed Canaan." He told her. "The room with the Zohar isn't much far from here. We just have to climb up that thing."

They clambered up the scaffolding and emerged on a large, steel terrace protruding out from underneath the tower's analysis room. Shion was about to jump across to the other side of the tower, but she felt a blade slash the air centimeters from her ear.

"Well, I thought it was funny that our outer defenses had crumbled."

Shion spun around at the sound of the stranger's voice, "Margulis!" She scowled angrily. Her enemy had apparently been expecting them at the top of the analysis tower, and had now jumped onto the terrace. His cold gaze struck fear into her heart.

"It didn't surprise me, really." Margulis grinned evilly, "Uzuki's little sister...you've been causing quite a ruckus lately, ruining our plans." He laughed, "Not that it matters now. You know too much, plus, we've already accomplished our objective. There's not much you can do now."

She glared at him, "Jin..." she whispered, "what..."

"Uzuki? Ah, well." He showed her his sword, soaked in blood.

"NO!" She howled, "You filthy bastard!" She lunged at him, firing an electrical charge. He deflected her attack

"Ha, ha, your battle is futile." He sneered, deflecting another charge and sending it Jr.'s way. "The Zohar is under our control. We'll find Lost Jerusalem, and it's Patriarch's will to have the Messiah sacrificed."

Shion barely heard him. Her blood was roaring in her ears, and a powerful hatred for the man in front of her filled her up to the bursting point. Surge after surge of electric charges shot out of her M.W.S., and Margulis kept evaded her attacks, although not without difficulty.

"You fight like you're brother!" He laughed, summoning a shadow replica of himself which began to slash at Shion, "but I don't know if that will help you now..."

She continued to fire at him mercilessly. Margulis's shadow stabbed her and tore sharp lacerations across her skin, but she seemed unfazed. Her blood boiled. She parried his own stabs and jabs and whacked him hard across the face with her weapon. Margulis staggered back.

"Heh," he spat a wad of blood at Shion's feet, "you've got you're brother's genes in you yet, you self-righteous bitch."

Their battle raged on, and soon the terrace was echoing with the sounds of a blade bouncing off her M.W.S. She took pot-shots at him angrily, delighted when his body convulsed from an electrical surge. She fired at him, kicked him, slammed her weapon against his face, all the while leaving bloody trails in her wake. Pain didn't register when she felt his shadow's blade rip through her. She'd never felt such loathing for anybody, _ever_. Memories of her brother flooded her...Jin had been her last remaining family member.

"Bastard!" She screamed, hitting the side of his head again with her weapon in a skull-crushing blow.

Jr. fought horrified, taking shots and Margulis's shadow and finally blasted the shadow out of existence with a concentrated Last Symphony. He wheeled around, staring at Shion and Margulis locked in combat. She was ruthless, fighting more fiercely than Jr. had ever seen, but she was also taking heavy damage. Unacceptable damage, as KOS-MOS would say. Shion was so badly wounded, he didn't know if she was going to make it.

His neck snapped up, searching for something, someone, _anything _that could help them, and his gaze stopped at the tower's analysis room. Margulis's appearance had startled him so much that he had failed to notice another battle raging in the analysis room. Craning his neck so he could see through the room's window, he spotted pink bursts of light bouncing around inside. They looked like arrows from an Ether bow...

"MOMO!" He exclaimed. She must be in there. Ziggy too, judging by the fire Jr. saw that billowed out in tandem with the pink arrows. He ran to the other side of the terrace, firing point-blank shots at Margulis. The analysis room seemed locked. MOMO and Ziggy were trapped inside. The only way to get them out was to...well, Jr. enjoyed doing dangerous things.

"Mystic Nocturne!"

A flurry of spirit bullets erupted from his guns and collided with the base of the analysis room. The room buckled and exploded, its windows shattering outward. MOMO and Ziggy tumbled out of the tower, plummeting towards the terrace, and whoever they had been fighting got caught in the incinerating explosion of the tower.

Ziggy dropped like a deadweight and landed with a hard thud on top of Margulis.

"Ziggy!" Shion squealed, happy that Margulis's stinging blade had ceased to slash at her for a moment.

MOMO spiraled through the air and landed in Jr.'s awaiting arms.

"Hi there!" He smiled, slowly setting a confused but ecstatic MOMO to her feet; happiness burst from her every pore.

"Get off of me you clunking pile of trash." Margulis hissed as he threw Ziggy across the terrace. He pounced on Shion in an angry rage and shoved her hard, his eyes an angry glow. He forced her back against the terrace's railing. Water gushed in strong currents many feet beneath them. She struggled against the blade he had placed across her throat, but her M.W.S. arm had been twisted painfully across her back. A sharp pain screamed down her spine.

"You lay a hand on my sister, and I will end you."

Startled, Margulis whipped around to find a wet, bloody, but very alive Jin clamber onto the terrace. He swung his blade at Margulis so fast it broke the sound barrier, and Margulis was forced to release Shion from his grip to parry the blow.

"You die hard, Uzuki." He scowled, slashing furiously at Jin. Big mistake. He grossly underestimated the resolve of his hated enemy's sister.

"LUNAR BLADE!"

Margulis didn't have time to blink. A bright silvery blade plunged through his back and erupted out through his chest.

"Aeon murderer." She hissed.

"B-bitch." He staggered, attempting to summon another shadow, but he noticed Ether energy swirling around two other people to his left.

"Ether drive..."

"Mystic powers, grant me a miracle..."

"MIRACLE STAR!"

Jr. and MOMO unleashed their double Ether and blasted Margulis with starry pink beams. His sword flew out of his hands.

"Ah!..." He screamed in agony, but refused defeat. His hand snapped back behind him, and he grabbed Shion's wrist in an attempt to wrench the Lunar Blade out of him.

"Cyber Kick."

A volley of fiery kicks met Margulis's arm and shoulder. He released Shion's hand and stumbled to the ground, her sword still wedged in his chest.

"Futile..." He groaned.

"Yes," Jin spat with contempt, "you are." He stabbed him. Margulis grunted and toppled over, hitting the ground.

"Good riddance." Jin scowled, sheathing his blade.

"Feb...Feb's sisters..." Shion gasped, and collapsed into her brother's arms. Open wounds were visible across her abdomen and arms. A nasty gash ran from her right ear to her chin.

"Shion!" Jr. cried, running to her side, joining Ziggy and MOMO, who were keeping a teetering Jin from falling over. "MOMO," he shouted, "MOMO, heal them! Quick!"

He didn't have to tell her twice. She knelt down beside brother and sister and infused them with powerful healing Ether. Their wounds sewed themselves up as bruises shrank away and lacerations stitched themselves together.

Shion's eyes fluttered open, "MOMO...Ziggy...Jr...Jin. Thank you."

"Don't mention it Shion." MOMO smiled, "We're just happy you're ok. You put up quite a fight."

Shion got to her feet, and the reason why she came to Labyrinthos flashed across her mind like a lightning bolt, "Cathe and Cecily. Febronia's sisters! Where are they?" She asked nervously, fearing that she may be too late.

"With the Zohar." Jr. told her. He started for the summit, but stopped and pointed at Margulis. "Are you sure he's really dead? I mean–"

"No time!" She screamed, "it doesn't matter. We have to get to the Zohar right away! I know what Ormus wants to do with it! I-I made a promise to Nephilim and Febronia." She gazed at Labyrinthos's summit resolutely, not sure what she would find, but certain that she would not turn back now.

"Come on!" She shouted, and they raced for the Zohar–the cradle of mankind

—

Shion still had trouble remembering what had happened when she and the others reached the Zohar. Probably another defense mechanism. She had been thunderstruck beyond belief. Feb's sisters, connected in a cold prison to the Zohar, fused with the system. Their life-functions drained, their consciousness separated, made dependant on the Zohar's machinary. The horror! It was too horrible. She had broken down, thrown a fit, pulled at her hair, screamed at the top of her lungs. How cruel could somebody be? Doing that to Feb's sisters to obtain the Zohar's power, it was awful! She couldn't take it anymore, but the biggest horror of all was revealed when Febronia appeared and told Shion what her true purpose was.

_Set my sisters free._

No! She howled, she shrieked. Why did it have to be her? She wouldn't do it. She _couldn't_ do it. Why the hell had Febronia called her here?

_Shion, you've always been this way. Such a kind child..._

And then Shion understood. She didn't know why or how, but she knew. She had to do it, and it would have to be her. What the Patriarch (a cruel, ruthless, sanctimonious bastard) was doing was terribly wrong. She refused to accept his intentions. The morally-superior hypocrite. He claimed he had power granted to him by God: that the Zohar was Ormus's to control as they saw fit, that Realians were tools for them to use as they pleased. It had always been that way, since the beginning of time, even before the crucifixion of the Messiah, which would happen again soon, and the universe would be freed from the Gnosis. The path to Lost Jerusalem would reveal itself, and the Unus Mundus would be Ormus's to control.

Shion had never heard such a load of crap in her entire life. She flatly refused. She would not accept any of it. She knew what she had to do. It could only be her. Swearing to herself that these would be the last sacrifices on her account, Shion fired, destroying the system, stopping U-DO, killing Cecily and Cathe, and cutting the bypass to the Zohar. The Patriarch swore, but asserted that it didn't matter...And then he summoned Proto Omega. Overwhelming power. Power to place the entire Galaxy under Ormus's control, among other such horrors...too overwhelming. She couldn't hope to fight it. She felt powerless without KOS-MOS, at a loss without chaos. They had no choice but to flee...

—

"So...what are we going to do now?"

Jin voiced the obvious. The group sat slumped at the Elsa's bar, reeling from shock.

"Old Miltia..." Shion whispered, "they destroyed the whole planet."

"Yeah, unbelievable." Jr. sighed, "Yuriev called it an 'acceptable loss'."

"_I hate that term._" She scowled, "Ormus had no right. We have to do something, but..."

"I think it's obvious we must defeat Proto Omega," Ziggy said, folding his arms and looking somberly out the Elsa's window at what was left of crumbling Old Miltia, "the only question is how."

"Well, you don't have to worry about getting there." Tony grinned resolutely, putting his arm around Shion, "I'll take you to the edge of the universe if need be!"

Shion chuckled half-heartedly, "Thanks Tony. I feel kind of bad I left Vector's shuttle on Old Miltia though, I–whoops." She had been sorting out her inventory on the bar's table and accidently dropped one of the robot disks she had found in the Dammerung's Encephalon dive. At the sound of her disk hitting the floor, the bar's doors flew open and a short, fat old man wearing a sombrero burst into the bar.

"What was that?" He hollered excitedly, shaking with joy.

"Oh crap," Captain Mathews muttered, taking a shot of whiskey down the hatch, "what the hell are _you _doing here? You money draining, cargo space occupying, old fart bag–"

"Who is that man, Captain?" MOMO asked, surprised to meet a passenger of the Elsa that she had never seen before.

"That," the Captain spat, "is the professor of the Kukai Foundation's Robot Academy, who conveniently decided to rebuild his God-damn academy on **my **ship. Using **my **funds! The senile, little money burner..."

The Professor ignored the Captain completely, knocked Tony off his chair, and took his seat next to Shion, staring at her intently with a curious eagerness, "If you don't mind my asking, Miss, where did you get this disk so cleverly labeled _Robot Head?_" He bristled with excitement.

"Er...I found it in an Encephalon Dive, why?"

The Professor squealed like a school girl, "And, do you happen to have any other such disks? Just out of curiosity of course."

"Um, yeah, here." She pulled out her other five disks.

"Eeeeeiiiieee!" The Professor shook with delight, "My greatest dream is to build the most sleek, most powerful, most awesome combat robot in the universe! But I haven't been able to start construction because I lacked the proper blueprints. These," he held up Shion's disks, "may be the answer to my prayers. With these disks I can finally build the most super, awesome, uber-powerful robot of all time!"

Shion stared at him, "Are-are we supposed to take this man seriously?" She asked incredulously as the old Professor bounced up and down on his seat.

"We're supposed to nail his ass to the floor." Mathews grumbled.

The Professor was about to respond, but the bar's doors slid open again and a blond young man entered, "Oh, here you are. Professor, I told you not to wander the Elsa by yourself. You're so old and senile, you might get lost."

"Friend of the Professor, I gather?" Shion asked as the blond man approached the bar.

"Yes, I'm Scott–"

"_Assistant _Scott." The Professor chimed in.

"Right. Assistant Scott. I'm terribly sorry if the Professor is bothering you. He gets terribly carried away when he speaks of his Erde robots." Assistant Scott managed to wrench Shion's disks out of the Professor's hands, handing them back to her, and started to lead the old man back to the Elsa's basement.

"Just a second." Shion asked, getting up from her seat, "humor me a minute. What kind of robot does the Professor dream to build, just out of curiosity," she winked at the Professor, "of course."

"Only the greatest robot of–" The Professor was cut off by Assistant Scott.

"Actually, if he had the right blueprints and the right building materials, despite his old age, the Professor would be capable of constructing an Erde robot that could pummel the likes of the Proto mechs."

Shion started, "Did you say Proto? Seriously!" She glanced at her bewildered friends. This senile, sombrero-donning old man may very well have been a gift from heaven (well, maybe not for Captain Mathews), and if what Assistant Scott said was true, they may have a chance of challenging Ormus's Proto Omega.

"If I gave these disks to the Professor," Shion said, shoving her disks into the Professors hot, eager hands, "would he be able to construct an Erde robot?"

Assistant Scott shrugged, "Yeah, we would need the proper materials though, which can only be found at a very old space colony. Those materials are also incredibly expensive..."

"Don't worry," she said, waving her hand, "money is not an issue."

"Yes it is." Mathews grumbled.

"What else do you need?" Shion asked, catching on to the Professor's excitement.

"Well, Erde robots are actually summoned as Ether spells, so there are a few skills the caster needs to learn first. Those skills require a remarkable amount of Ether energy, and can only be learned inside a very dangerous and Forbidden Encephalon Dive." Assistant Scott told her.

"I'm used to dangerous dives." Shion grinned, casting a boastful glance at Jr.

She spun around to face her friends and crew, "Well? What do you guys think? If we can get this Erde thing built on time, do you think we'd have a chance against Proto Omega?"

Jin smiled, "It would not be unwise, but the procurement of the materials and skills seems dangerous and costly."

Hammer got up from his seat, "Not really, at least as far as the materials are concerned. I know what space colony Scott is talking about–"

"_Assistant _Scott!" The Professor barked.

"Whatever. It's that old, dilapidated colony by the Kukai Foundation. The crumbling scrapheap that claims they have everything from A.G.W.S. to toilet paper."

The Captain scoffed, "that place is pretty far from here. Isn't time of the essence?"

Tony shoved the Professor out of the way and grabbed Shion's hands, "actually, there's a hyperspace column that leads to that colony next to the Dammerung. We could gate in using Vector's column and be there in no time!"

Jr. began drumming his fingers on the bar excitedly. The Professor's squealing was contagious, "what about those Ether skills the caster has to learn? Where's the Forbidden Encephalon Dive?"

"On Second Miltia!" The Professor bounced, slamming Tony into the bar and grabbing Shion's shoulders, "it's located in the lab of an old colleague of mine! There's a column by the old space colony that leads right to Second Miltia! If we time our gate-ins correctly, we'll have everything done in record-breaking time!"

He and Shion started jumping up and down excitedly, "it's settled then!" She cried, filled with resolve again.

"Alright." The Captain got up, giving up on trying to tame his circus of a crew, "Tony, what the hell are you doing on the floor? Didn't you hear Miss Vector? Full speed ahead to the Dammerung!"

"Roger!" Tony pulled himself from the floor, took care to step on the Professor's foot in doing so, and made for the bridge, the others followed him happily. Hope was a powerful aid sometimes.

In reality, the last place Shion wanted to be was anywhere near the Dammerung, but there were bigger things at stake. It was not her place to complain now.

—

The hustle and bustle of Second Miltia's streets reverberated around its tall buildings. chaos roamed the city without purpose and came upon Moby Dick's Café. He read the neon sign flashing on the door:

TRY OUR SPECIAL CURRY! BOSS'S SPECIALTY!

"Hmm..." He looked up at the sky momentarily, lost in thought, and then entered the restaurant.

—

"The Dammerung...yup, there are few places I wouldn't rather be right now." Shion grumbled as Vector's massive headquarters came into the Elsa's view. She and Allen sat on the bridge together waiting for the Captain to establish a connection with the transport column. Allen seemed shakier than usual.

"I-I'm really sorry about what happened back there, Chief." He said, pointing at the Dammerung.

Shion laughed, "you don't have to call me that anymore. I'm not chief of anything."

"Oh...right."

"I just don't get it," she held her head sadly, "I know I used the Dive Terminal illegally, but what caused the Director to treat me like that? With all the support I had from my colleagues!" She gazed at the ceiling, "I mean, you obviously vouched for me, right Allen?" She looked at him imploring, even though the question to her was rhetorical.

Allen said nothing, and he began to look very uncomfortable.

"Allen?" Shion asked, slightly alarmed, "you did tell the Director not to fire me, right?"

"Um, well...no."

"WHAT?" She exploded, jumping to her feet and knocking over her chair.

"I, um...Well, judging by your past behavior I sort of told him, you know, that you weren't really...cut...out...for the job..." His voice ended in a tiny whimper.

"**WHAT!**" She screamed again, almost shaking with fury, "Allen! Why!"

"I, er..."

Her fists came down on the table so hard Allen jumped out of his seat, "Damn it Allen! I trusted you! After all we've been through together! After all that work!" Tears formed in her eyes, "I-I valued your opinion more than anybody's! I thought...I thought we were friends! I thought everything we had accomplished together was something meaningful!"

"It was!" Allen gasped, trying to defend himself.

"Then why the hell did you set out to have the Director shatter my life? Me of all people! I mean, damn it!" She seemed more offended than angry, stung with blades of betrayal, "I _trusted_ you! How could I have misjudged you so badly? You back-stabbing ass–"

"I was worried about you!"

Shion staggered back. A look of incomprehension crossed her face, "what bullshit are you trying to pull Allen?"

"I mean it! You as Chief Engineer, ever since the Woglinde, ever since they made you Chief Engineer of First Division, you always got hurt, you were always in danger during KOS-MOS's test Dives! You got attacked by the Gnosis, you almost got killed! Those bastards at Vector, they don't care about your safety, they just want you to make profits for them! I-I had to get you out! I couldn't stand you getting hurt anymore!"

She stared at him dumbstruck. Allen didn't have the capacity to lie. He was too innocent to pull off a scam like this. He was telling the truth.

"But...Allen." Her lip quivered, "my job, my life! If you were worried why didn't you just tell me! We could have worked things out! I've never been in serious danger–AAH!"

She was cut off, and she punctuated her sentence with an ear-splitting scream. A portion of the Dammerung in front of them exploded, sending shockwaves of air through space which pummeled the Elsa as if it were made of paper.

"Oh my God!" She screamed as the bridge shook, gazing in horror at the Dammerung, "someone—Ormus! Ormus attacked the Dammerung! But why?" She gasped. Margulis had somehow known that she had hacked into Ormus's database. Only one other person had that information stored on her communicator...

"MYUKI!" Shion screamed, realization suddenly flooding her like ice-water. "That-that part of the Dammerung that just blew up! Those are the First Division offices, they want to murder, they want to murder...Oh my God, Myuki!"

She fell to her knees, too terrified to move. The other members of the bridge ran over to her. Allen lifted her to her feet.

"But, but how?" He asked, "How did Ormus know you had hacked into their files?"

"Someone must have told them–" she paused, horror flooding her face, "Harold!" She gasped.

Jr. caught on to what she was saying, "What? You're saying Harold works for Ormus? Oh, that would explain his desire to get control of KOS-MOS, and Ormus's knowledge of Wilhelm's projects, and...oh _shit_!" The realization of what he was saying seemed to hit him across the face.

Shion shuddered. Memories of the incident two years ago flooded her. Harold worked for Ormus. Harold was most probably First Division's Chief Engineer right now. Ormus wanted to reprogram KOS-MOS. Wake her up. Turn her into a monster.

"No..." Shion's face blanched, "no, he can't..." She suddenly felt a powerful, unshakeable resolve take hold of her, and she shot up to her feet, almost sending Allen flying.

"KOS-MOS." She whispered, "I have to save her! And Myuki." She spun to face the Captain, "I need to get on the Dammerung _now_! Ormus could be slaughtering my colleagues as we speak!" She grabbed her M.W.S., suddenly filled with rage.

"Well, we're going with you!" Jr. cried, unsnapping his guns from their holsters.

"What?" Shion looked at her friends. They were all preparing for battle.

"Of course we're going with you!" Jr. exclaimed, "we're all in this together now, whether you like it or not."

"Yeah!" MOMO grabbed Shion's hands and held them, "We're fighting by your side till the end now! There's too much at stake. It's more important now then ever to stick together! If not, the only option is to fall apart."

Shion gazed at her friends. She was too overtaken with emotion. She couldn't help crying. Tony was already speeding towards the Dammerung much faster than the Federation's speed limits allowed.

"Guys," she whispered tearfully, "thank you."

"Save it for later." Jr. grinned loading his guns with a fresh cartridge of bullets, "Ormus is in need of a good, thorough ass kicking!"

Jin and Ziggy nodded in agreement, and her friends started making their way to the Elsa's exit. Shion stared out the window. The First Division offices on the Dammerung were smoldering. How many of her colleagues had been caught in the explosion? If she hadn't been fired, she would have...

She turned to face Allen. He seemed to be hiding a very subtle 'I told you so' expression on his face, "you were right," she whimpered, realizing that Allen had indirectly saved her life, "you were right." She hugged him, then turned to face her friends.

"Alright!" She shouted, "Let's go save KOS-MOS!"

—

"SPELL RAY!"

"METEOR SHOT!"

"STAR CANNON!"

A deafening explosion rocked First Division's outer walls as Shion's, Ziggy's, and MOMO's attacks blew out the wall in front of them with the screeching of splintering metal and completely destroyed an Ormus A.M.W.S. that had been attacking Vector employees on the other side. Shion and the others certainly liked to make an entrance.

_Save KOS-MOS. Save KOS-MOS. Save KOS-MOS. _Shion played that mantra in her head over and over again. That was _her _prime directive. She felt invigorated with power, steeled with resolve. Pity to those who wished to stand in her way.

In the midst of her current situation, as the smoke settled from their 'explosive' entrance, Shion found herself barking out orders, assuming a leadership position.

"Jr., MOMO, this entire area is littered with security cameras and spy droids–they're here for the Dammerung's protection. I need you two to take them out. Every last one of them. Shoot everything you see. I won't be able to break into KOS-MOS's programming center unless the security system is down."

"Roger." Jr. grinned, suddenly very happy that he had the chance to shoot everything he wanted with reckless abandon.

"Jin, Ziggy," Shion pointed to another wide, gaping hole that led to deep space (fortunately the Dammerung had instantaneous air-lock technology), "that's where those Ormus bastards are coming in. See that hallway? That leads to KOS-MOS's programming center. Protect that hallway! Don't allow a single Ormus soldier to get to it, alright? Kill anything in an Ormus suit, splatter their guts against the walls, break Vector equipment, I don't care. Do anything you have to in order to insure the enemy doesn't infiltrate that hallway. Got it?"

Both Jin and Ziggy readied their blades. They didn't even bother answering; they simply rushed towards the hallway and began decapitating any Ormus soldier who was stupid enough to wander anywhere near them.

"I'm going to save KOS-MOS!" She cried, taking off down the hallway Ziggy and Jin had sworn to protect, "if you guys can, try to save as many Vector employees as possible."

Jr. unleashed a barrage of bullets towards the ceiling and took out three security cameras in three seconds, "alright! Just go Shion!"

—

Shion peeled down the hallway, her heart racing against her chest. At least she didn't look suspicious. She still had her uniform on, although it was bloodied and considerably filthy, but not many people seemed to notice her right now. A widespread panic had gripped the inhabitants of the Dammerung. As she bolted towards KOS-MOS's programming center, she heard the scared, disconnected voices of her colleagues:

"...Dammerung got attacked? But how..."

"...don't we have the Rhine Maiden? What is President Wilhelm going to..."

"...are the Gnosis here? What about Hilbert Effect..."

"...Who the hell could be after us!"

—

_Bang, bang, bang. _Jr.'s trigger fingers blurred as he busted the Dammerung's high-tech security system. He had never felt so compelled to do something before. Shion had a way of evoking action that was incredible. MOMO was firing away at his side as well, evidently as concerned about Shion and KOS-MOS as he was. Something big and incomprehensibly important was taking place regarding Shion. He just knew it. And he knew that he would serve a big part in whatever was about to happen. So was MOMO. They were dedicated; they were determined to help her. Still, as the bullets kept ripping from his guns, a possibly dangerous thought kept nagging at the back of his mind: What the hell was up with chaos, and why the hell wasn't he here helping them?

—

Jin slashed and stabbed and swung and plunged his blade into anything that approached what was now being dubbed the 'sacred hallway' by him and Ziggy. He had never seen Shion so resolute before. She had changed significantly. She was much stronger now. It pained him that Febronia had taught her what he, her own brother, had been unable to show her for all this time. But things would change now. He would make sure of it. chaos was right, all he needed was to reach out to her; back at Labyrinthos, he had seen how passionate she was in her battle with Margulis. Although it was concealed and well hidden, Jin and Shion did love each other. What choice did they have? After mom and dad died, they only had each other left... Jin shook himself out of his thoughts and unleashed an Ether spell, knocking over a small A.M.W.S. unit. Something big was about to transpire. Ziggy felt it too. They would have to stay sharp, just like their blades.

—

"Lightning Blaster!"

Shion blasted the door to KOS-MOS's programming center and rushed in, M.W.S. sizzling with energy. She seemed to have an affinity for causing doors to explode. Her entrance was met with the startled looks of her colleagues, who were already shaken up by the attack on the Dammerung. Shion spotted KOS-MOS asleep in her maintenance chair. It looked so much like a coffin... Harold was leaning over her. He looked up (as most people did) when the door exploded.

"You!" He gasped, but didn't finish his sentence. Five charges of electricity collided with his fat frame and sent him flying unconscious across the room. The way she had ripped into him earlier this morning, well, that time didn't even come close to the pain she just unleashed on him now.

"Uzuki! What are you doing here?" Her Director exclaimed, slightly terrified.

Shion eyed him and very calmly said, "I've come to take back KOS-MOS. If you have a problem you can kiss my ass."

She walked over to KOS-MOS's maintenance chair, "OUT OF THE WAY!" She screamed, slashing the air with her M.W.S. Her colleagues scampered away like mice.

"You're not the Chief anymore–" Her Director began.

"Shut up if you want to live." She scowled.

"You have no authority to take KOS-MOS with you!"

Her blood boiled, "Then consider me a criminal. And this is a theft. If you interfere, I will shoot you."

"You get out of my division right now before–" He collapsed as she hit him with an electro blast. She wasn't as enraged with him as she was with Harold, so that blast would merely paralyze him and cause him excruciating agony for a few weeks, a month at most; as opposed to Harold, who would be living the rest of his existence screaming in pain, as if he were living in hell–if he did live at all.

Shion knelt down next to KOS-MOS and shook her gently, tears streaming down her face.

"KOS-MOS, KOS-MOS wake up, please..."

KOS-MOS's eyes opened. She seemed to be smiling, "Good evening, Shion."

"KOS-MOS!" Shion screamed. Had Harold tampered with her programming? The thought was too terrible. She started sobbing, "KOS-MOS, introduce yourself, say anything! Please!"

KOS-MOS eyed her quizzically for a nanosecond, then complied with Shion's request, "I am an Anti-Gnosis Humanoid Fighting System, serial number 00-00-00-00-1. Development name KP-X. Abbreviated name KOS-MOS. All systems are normal. My weaponry..."

"Oh, Thank God!" Shion cried and flung her arms around KOS-MOS, relieved beyond belief.

"You really are KOS-MOS." Shion whispered.

KOS-MOS looked at her with a slightly disturbed expression on her face, "Yes. I am indeed KOS-MOS. Are you feeling well, Shion? Undue stress and lack of sleep in humans often result in sluggish and retarded brain processes–"

"No," Shion smiled. Wiping her tears and kissing the android's cheek, "No, KOS-MOS. I'm fine." She got up and paused, "Listen KOS-MOS, some really awful things have transpired. The engineer who was currently attempting to program you, he's part of the Immigrant Fleet, our enemy! There's an evil organization attempting to tamper with your mainframe. I know I'm not you're Chief Engineer anymore, but you must come with me immediately! We're in terrible danger here, and I don't know how much Ziggy and Jin can hold out, so–"

KOS-MOS got up from her maintenance chair, "Do not worry Shion. I trust you."

Shion's mouth fell open a little, and she felt her self-worth soar from the ground. Everything Shion had done, everything she had worked for, everything she had sacrificed suddenly became validated by KOS-MOS's statement. The darkness she had been trudging through vanished, and she grasped a bit of meaning in her life. She felt elated.

"Thank you, KOS-MOS." Shion was about to cry, but she reminded herself this was no time to be emotional. She filled KOS-MOS in on everything she had learned at Labyrinthos, including Ormus's true intentions.

"I understand the situation." KOS-MOS replied once Shion was done, "I am happy to be of service."

Shion couldn't help hugging the android one last time, "Oh, one more thing. The Dammerung has been attacked. The place is crawling with soldiers and A.M.W.S and other such machines that are intent on killing me. We're going to have to fight our way out of here."

"Affirmative," KOS-MOS asserted, heading for the door(way), "Disengaging safety-mode. Activating all weapon systems."

Shion followed behind her, but suddenly stopped and questioned the first colleague she found that hadn't soiled his shorts, "Do you have any idea what happened to Myuki Itsumi?"

"Um...oh yeah. She got hurt pretty badly. The paramedics had to escort her to the hospital. She was in critical condition...er...it didn't look good at all."

"Damn it." Shion muttered. She gazed resolutely at KOS-MOS, "Come on, let's blow this joint!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Er...I mean...let's just get out of here!"

—

For the first time in what felt like ages, Shion didn't have to run down hallways blasting away at enemies like a kamikaze. She was immensely grateful that KOS-MOS was fighting by her side. KOS-MOS's cannons, bullets, lasers, and missiles tore through enemy soldiers and A.M.W.S. units with the greatest of ease. Shion was so used to having to fend for herself, she shrieked in a panic when an E.S. blasted itself into their path.

"Crap! KOS-MOS, run!"

KOS-MOS did not run. She seemed unfazed. "Stand back Shion...X-BUSTER!" Blue lasers erupted from KOS-MOS's abdomen and ripped the E.S. apart in the most incredible display of lasers and explosions that Shion had ever seen. She relaxed. She was safe now. KOS-MOS was safe. Maybe, just maybe, things were going to be ok.

"I love you." Shion blurted once KOS-MOS reduced the E.S. to a steaming pile of rubble.

KOS-MOS blinked, "I also enjoy your company. Shion..." She turned around at the sound of footsteps and saw Ziggy and Jin running towards them. They looked a little rough around the edges.

"Shion! KOS-MOS!" Jin yelled, "we can't hold them back any longer, we have to get out of here! Tony has repositioned the Elsa over there." He pointed to a space dock a few yards away, "we have to leave now! Jr. and MOMO were almost caught destroying security cameras. If Ormus doesn't get us, then the Dammerung's police force will!"

"But!" Shion looked back down the hall. A.M.W.S. were trashing the First Division residences, attacking innocent people... "No, I can't! I promised myself that Feb's sisters would be the last sacrifices. I have to save my colleagues. You guys go on ahead to the Elsa. Get KOS-MOS out of here as fast as you can. Ormus wants her."

"Negative." KOS-MOS responded.

"What? KOS-MOS, get out of here!"

"Unacceptable. Your chances of surviving here without me are negligible. My prime directive is to protect all Vector employees, yourself included, Shion."

Shion growled, frustrated. Was there a point in arguing with an android? Without saying a word, she and the others bolted back towards the residences. There were people to be saved.

—

"Bless you!" A startled young girl gasped as Shion helped her out of a pile of rubble after she incinerated a particularly nasty A.M.W.S.

"Forget about it. Just get out of here! Go find safety!" Shion told her. The young girl turned tail and vanished.

"This is the last residence." KOS-MOS said once the girl left, "I do not detect any human life in a radius of 1000 yards besides yourself, Jr., and Jin. All Vector employees have been successfully rescued."

Shion exhaled a deep, shaky sigh of relief, "So is it safe to breath easy now?"

She barely finished her sentence when the ceiling caved in and an enormous mech plummeted down next to her with an earth-shaking crash.

"What the hell is that?" Jr. cried as he looked up at a very big, very nasty, very red, beam-sword wielding monstrosity.

"It appears to be an enhanced model of an E.S." KOS-MOS explained, "My sensors cannot get a steady reading. Its power levels are overwhelming. Our chances of survival are 0.001 percent. I suggest we escape immediately."

Shion didn't like the sound of that. At all... Before she could run, the mech's sword crashed down upon the group, barely missing Jin's head, and sent a shower of fiery sparks in all directions. Molten pellets landed on Shion's back and seared her spine. She felt white-hot pain take over her body, and she collapsed in agony along with her friends.

"Ah! The fire, I can't–" She howled in pain. This was torture, surely no one was meant to feel this agony. She thought death was eminent...

An explosion rocked the residence. Shion spotted a flash of white light, and saw a radiant blast of white energy collide with the red monster. Another explosion, and for a moment Shion thought she was in hell—fire everywhere, embers flying over her head, gigantic flaming boulders crashed around her, and then the red monstrosity was no more. The pain stopped.

She found the courage to look up. A huge, snowy white mech, much like the red one, stood gleaming in the Dammerung's residence. Whatever or whoever it was had just saved Shion's and everybody else's life. The pilot of the white E.S. dismounted, landed on the floor, and walked towards Shion. The first thing she noticed were his eyes...

"Oh my God, President Wilhelm!"

Wilhelm eyed her cooly and smiled, "Yes. Please, just Wilhelm. I feel too much like a celebrity as is." He gazed around at Shion's friends, who were just beginning to get to their feet, except for KOS-MOS, who stood stalk-straight in a saluting position as if she were addressing the Commander-and-Chief of the Federation's army.

"I understand that you and your companions have taken it upon yourselves to rescue my employees? I thank you deeply, that was very dangerous. I am happy to report that our attackers have retreated. Your efforts were not in vain."

Shion gaped at him awkwardly, paralyzed by the fact that she was talking to one of the most powerful men in the cosmos, "Er...uh...you're-you're welcome." Great. She had always wanted to make a good first impression with the head of her company.

Wilhelm stepped forward and shook her hand, "To be truthful, it isn't really proper for me to thank my employees personally, but I must say, I have never been more impressed, or more proud, or more grateful to any of my engineers before you, Shion Uzuki."

Shion reeled. He knew her name? How many hundreds of thousands of people worked for him? He must have hundreds of Directors!

"Um, well, th-thank you, sir–Wilhelm! But, the truth is I don't work for you anymore."

He tilted his head and eyed her oddly, almost like a confused best friend.

"Uh, I've been fired." She blurted, "I'm the _former_ Chief Engineer of your First Research & Development Division."

Wilhelm stared at her for a moment, then, despite trying to remain subtle, burst out in a warm, friendly fit of laughter.

—

Once the Dammerung had been cleaned up to the best of Vector's abilities, given the circumstances, Shion found herself sitting in one of the less damaged First Division offices. A desk separated her from the CEO of her company. The E.S. Asher's mainframe, her communicator, and her report on KOS-MOS were placed neatly on the desk.

"I'm afraid," Wilhelm sighed, "there has been a terrible misunderstanding. Please don't quote me on this, but you're Director is an idiot, Harold Asters is an idiot, and you, Miss Uzuki, are the best Chief Engineer I've ever had the pleasure to work for me."

Shion blushed terribly.

"I will not stand for jealousy, or power trips, or treachery in my company. Rest assured that your Director will be dealt with severely, if not fired completely. As for Harold, well, he got what he deserved, and you won't be seeing him on my ship anymore."

She bit her lip hard to keep from smirking.

"You, however, Miss Uzuki–"

"Shion." She managed to choke out.

He smiled, "Very well, Shion, consider yourself re-hired. From now on you will have complete and total control over the programming and development of KOS-MOS, and her care will be under your jurisdiction only. You will be answerable only to me, and all the services of First Division, both its employees and its terminals, will be completely at your disposal. I will be putting you in charge of First Division, accompanied by a 50 percent bump on whatever your former Director has been paying you. Oh, that is, if you accept..."

So much for a good first impression. Shion tumbled out of her chair and hit the floor.

"Th-thank you, Wilhelm I-I–" She thanked him profusely, attempting to reconstruct her dignity.

"There is no need to thank me, Shion. I have never seen anyone give so much to my company. Hard work is rewarded here at Vector, you know that."

She blushed again.

"However, there is one thing I wish to discuss before we part ways,"

Oh crap.

"While reviewing your file I couldn't help but notice that you and a colleague of yours—Myuki Itsumi, very talented young girl as well—hacked, for lack of a better word, into a restricted entry of my archives?"

Oh crapping crap. "Uh, well, President Wil–"

He waved her silent, "there is no need for you to explain yourself. I know of the black box the late Kevin Winnicot programmed into KOS-MOS. I believe 'Aeon' was the curious word on his encryption code? I know, you were merely curious. I understand that KOS-MOS's well-being is important to you, and am I correct when I say that you and Mr. Winnicot were...romantically involved?"

"Y-yes."

"I figured as much. Don't worry. I know you acted with KOS-MOS's best interest in mind. Just for the future, could you try to avoid hacking in to restricted files?"

"Oh, of, of course! I will never do it again."

Wilhelm laughed, "You're a fantastic engineer, Shion." He got up from his chair, and a buzzing noise from a computer behind Shion startled the both of them.

"Oh dear, the media has arrived." Wilhelm sighed. "This incident will be in the news for _weeks. _Ah, well. Looks like you'll be famous, Miss. Uzuki."

Shion got up. The media? Why did Wilhelm think the news networks wanted to interview her?

"Well, I really must be going. I understand you'll be leaving the Dammerung immediately." He walked towards her and kissed her hand, "I look forward to your return."

He left Shion gaping in the office, dumbstruck.

—

The Moby Dick Café was warm and cozy. There was a homely feel about it. chaos took a seat at the bar, and to his surprise, Boss recognized him immediately.

"Hey! I remember you, you're one of Shion's friends."

chaos blinked, startled, "Um, well, yes..."

"You came here for the curry didn't you?" Boss smiled, confident in the knowledge that his customers always came back for more.

chaos chuckled, "Yes. You're quite the judge of people."

Boss laughed and walked into the kitchen, emerging a few minutes later with a steaming bowl of curry.

"Don't tell her this," he whispered, setting chaos's plate down in front of him, "but although it's my recipe, Shion's curry is _way _better."

"Yeah, I love her curry." The words flew out of chaos's mouth before he even knew what he was saying.

Boss smiled and began wiping grease stains from the bar, "Shion really is a wonderful girl. She's been through hell and back, you know? I can't imagine some of the things she's had to deal with. But she's so strong! It's amazing how fiercely she takes on life."

chaos tried his best not to look terribly uncomfortable, "Well, however fiercely one takes on life, fate always wins out in the end."

Boss eyed chaos, surprised, "Don't let Shion hear you say that! She's living proof that we are the makers of our own destiny. No, no my friend, fate may challenge us, but we choose our own paths. We forge our own fate with our actions and our decisions. Shion once told me something that's always kind of stuck with me: we aren't predetermined. I mean, just look at what she's done with her life. She smacked fate across the face; she's made herself an engineer at Vector!"

chaos remained awkwardly silent. It was amazing what pearls of wisdom happened to come out of random barmen.

"It's a pity though, that she has to suffer so much," continued Boss, "she has trouble finding a boyfriend because she feels nobody really understands what she's been through. Heh, heh, I guess her perfect mate would be someone who considers her a hero."

chaos choked on a mouthful of beef.

"Whoa, hey! You ok there? Too much spice?"

"No, no. It's very good." He cleared his throat.

"Well, as I was saying, she's a sweet girl though. Stronger than she lets on too! She'll find her way. I've known her since she couldn't count past ten. She'll challenge fate. She'll make it back...Oh, am I rambling again? Forgive me, you just probably want to eat your dinner. I gotta get back to the kitchen anyway. I've got this new chef, doesn't know a spoon from his ass, if you'll pardon my French." Boss hurried away into the kitchen at the sound of pots crashing to the floor.

chaos stared ahead intently, in deep thought. Perhaps...

—

For an instant, Shion felt an uplifting surge in her heart, and felt positively giddy as she made her way towards the Dammerung's hospital. The feeling faded away though, once she reached the receptionist's desk.

"Excuse me, I'm Shion Uzuki, Chief Engineer of First R&D. I'm here to see Myuki Itsumi."

"Ah yes." The receptionist pointed to Shion's right, "down the hall. Third door on your right. Careful though, Miss Itsumi is in critical condition.

Shion ventured nervously into Myuki's ward, afraid of what she might find. To her relief, any part of Myuki that may have been disturbing was completely bandaged up (she resembled a mummy). Shion walked slowly up to her sleeping friend's bedside and knelt down beside her.

"Myuki?" She whispered, "can you hear me?"

Myuki opened a groggy, bloodshot eye, "Hey Shion."

Shion fought back tears. She would not cry. She would stay strong for her friend, "Hi there." Shion brushed some of Myuki's bangs out of her eyes.

"Ow..."

Shion gasped, "Sorry."

So much for that. Shion broke down in a fit of tears. She apologized profusely, said that it was all her fault, that if she needed blood Shion would give it, that if she never wanted to talk to Shion again she would understand.

"Don't be silly, Shion." Myuki's voice was a hoarse whisper, "You did what was right. I heard Ormus evacuated. Good riddance. Those jerks dish out some major pain."

Shion nodded and gingerly held Myuki's hand, "How are you feeling?"

Myuki grinned, "Well, considering the circumstances, pretty good actually, although I have so many nanomachines floating around in my blood that someone might confuse me with a cyborg!" She giggled. Shion didn't think it was very funny.

"Uh, why are you here?" Myuki asked, suddenly remembering Shion's...departure.

"Oh, well. Long story short: I saved KOS-MOS, trounced Harold, and now I'm here to see you. Oh yeah, and I got re-hired..."

"Oh my God! Shion that's awesome!"

"...By the president!"

"Wah!" Myuki squealed with delight, and if she hadn't been bandaged for embalmment Shion wouldn't have known she was in critical condition. Myuki showered her friend with praise, and admitted that now being in such painful agony wasn't so bad if she knew Shion was coming back to work.

"And what about chaos?" Myuki asked.

"Man, Myuki! Can we lay off my love life for once? I have no idea–" She was interrupted by the beeping of her communicator. She had received an e-mail. She read it, and her face went blank.

"Uh...Myuki. What do you do when you're CEO asks you out to dinner to discuss 'duties of your new job'?"

Myuki paused for a minute, shocked. Then, "You politely decline, and then you RUB IT IN CHAOS'S FACE!"

Shion rolled her eyes, "Oh God. Why do I even bother talking to you?" She stowed her communicator, but secretly took Myuki's advice to heart.

"You seem normal enough and in good health to me!" Shion told her, "seriously though. You're perfectly safe here. My friends and I crushed Ormus. They won't be coming back, and Wilhelm just upped the defenses like crazy."

Myuki seemed reassured, "what's the president like anyway?"

Shion considered this for a while, "Well, he's very smooth, very polite and eloquent. Knows how to charm a girl right off her feet, but..."

"But what?"

"I don't know, something about his eyes kind of creeps me out."

"Hm..." Myuki shrugged off the statement, "well dear, I have to get my rest now. I assume you'll be leaving to save the Star Cluster now?"

"Well, I'll be leaving. And I'm taking KOS-MOS with me. Ormus has no reason to attack again now."

"Ok, be careful. You're not going to go chasing danger now, are you?"

Shion said nothing, but smiled.

—

"Alright. The CEO's little lapdog is finally here. We can take off now!" Jr. announced once Shion boarded the Elsa, "Shion, pack your bags. We're dropping you off at Second Miltia."

"Huh? Why?"

"You'll be doing that Forbidden Encephalon Dive to get the skills for the Erde thingy. The rest of us will go to the old space port and get the materials needed for the robot. It'll be faster that way."

"You want me to do the Dive alone?"

"No. chaos is Diving with you. He's going to pick you up at the Miltian Spaceport."

"What! chaos? He's about the last person I want to see right now!" She screamed, as her heart did a somersault and she physically ached to see his emerald eyes again.

"Really?" Jr. raised an eyebrow, "tough. You have to go meet him whether you want to or not because we need the Ether skills for the robot."

Shion pouted, "He's not going to want to meet me! He was the one who left _me _in the lurch, remember! So count me out!" She spun on her heel and proceeded towards her cabin.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about because I just got off the phone with chaos and he said he'd be delighted to see you and he's already arranged for transport for the two of you–"

"Wha!" She whipped around, hit the wall, and staggered back towards Jr., "what did you say?"

Jr. smirked, "you heard me, little Miss I'm-so-hot-for-chaos-I-jump-on-him-half-naked-and-I-walk-in-on-him-while-he's-in-the-shower–"

"OK! That's enough, Jr.! I'll be...changing out of blood-stained uniform."

"A shower wouldn't hurt either."

He dodged the fist that was about to collide with his face.

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Oh my God. It's 4:00 in the morning and I've been writing non-stop for four hours. I think I may die now. Anyway, my reviewers rock! You know that, and now I really need to sleep. Please forgive any careless errors. I feel if I proofread this again my eyeballs will explode. I'll have all the careless mistakes taken care of by tomorrow.

Copyright Stuff: Febronia's italicized quotes, as well as Shion's "I hate that term." are quotes directly out of Xenosaga Episode II. KOS-MOS's introduction is straight from the script of Xenosaga Episode one. Those lines are not mine. I did not come up with them originally. Please don't sue, I'm too tired for a lawsuit...

I poured every once of creative energy left in my brain into this chapter. I agonized over the battle scenes, the character development, and pretty much everything else. Your thoughts and reviews are as important as the sleep I need right now, R/R!


	7. Chapter 7

Gasp! Another update, so soon? By me? Believe it, and expect updates more often now, because I officially have a deadline: September 16. I need to have everything written and posted by the date, 'cause then I leave for college (Yeah! U of Chicago! I'll be a moron among geniuses...) and who knows how often I'll get to update after that.

Once again, I love my reviewers! You're all just so...loveable! And wonderful! KP-X actually said I have talent! The last person who ever said I had talent was my mother when I was two years old during potty training, "Oh my goodness, Christopher, you did a poopy in the toilet! You're so talented!" Yeah, that was probably too much info right there...I have to stop that.

Anyhow, I'm going to have a big thank-a-thon at the end of this story to thank all of my reviewers personally, because that's how much you all rock!

Without further ado...

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**Borne Up on Angel Wings **

**Chapter Seven**

—

"_UNUS MUNDUS NETWORK EMERGENCY NEWSFLASH! Reporting live from the Dammerung, First R&D Division offices: After the shocking reappearance of the hyperspace column to Old Miltia and the discovery of the original Zohar nestled deep in the planet's submerged city, Ormus, a criminal organization under the alias Immigrant Fleet, has stolen the Zohar and used it as an energy source to run a super-weapon of overwhelming destructive power. In the horrifying aftermath of Ormus's theft, the entire Federation Fleet commissioned to guard Old Miltia was annihilated, and the **entire planet** crumbled into nothingness. These shocking developments have caused the Executive Committee to declare a State of Emergency throughout the entire star system. _

"_Following these terrifying events, the Dammerung, Vector Industries' main headquarters, was brutally attacked and infiltrated by Ormus. Our sources speculate Ormus was searching for Vector's new Anti-Gnosis weapon, KOS-MOS (Kos-mos Obey Strategic Multiple Operation Systems). The images you see here are the live footage of the damage wreaked upon the Dammerung only a few hours ago._

"_Closely linked to this tragedy however, is the amazing life of Vector's new hero, Shion Uzuki, the re-instated Chief Engineer of the KOS-MOS Project General Operation System Research Center and newly appointed Director of Vector's First Research & Development Division. Five days ago, Ms. Uzuki and the crew she was traveling with aboard the freighter ship Elsa were convicted by the Federation for flying through restricted space, but documentation stored on the crew's E.S.'s hard-drive revealed their innocense and instead displayed the crew's startling encounter with Ormus's prime stronghold. Through clever and careful planning, the Elsa's crew managed to infiltrate the stronghold, and destroy it, thus allowing them to escape and seek shelter in the Kukai Foundation, from which Ms. Uzuki swiftly proceeded to the Dammerung._

"_During an internal squabble behind the closed doors of Vector's corporate offices, Ms. Uzuki was fired from the company due to an Encephalon Dive that went unchecked with the Dammerung's Terminal Control. Reports now indicate that the information Vector's Chief Engineer discovered during her allegedly illegal Dive may have saved the lives of thousands of Vector employees. What she found during her Dive, unfortunately, has yet to be disclosed._

"_Following her discharge from Vector, which was, as one colleague mentions it 'a terrible blow to Shion's self-esteem, seeing as that she dedicated her life to that company,' Ms. Uzuki lost no time in chasing Ormus to Old Miltia, and while not able to prevent the criminals from stealing the Zohar, she and her crew inflicted major damage on the organization's assault weapons. _

"_Now battle-weary, Ms. Uzuki had less than one hour to gather her wits before crossing paths with Ormus again—at the Dammerung, during the most vicious attack in the space colony's entire history. In a search-and-rescue mission that Vector employees are already calling 'epic,' Shion Uzuki fought her way through hordes of Ormus soldiers to rescue KOS-MOS and her distraught colleagues from bombings and assaults that rendered the Dammerung into the steaming pile of rubble you see here. It is widely accepted now that Ms. Uzuki's exploits were nothing short of miraculous. Despite Ormus's deadly attacks, no civilian deaths have been reported during the engagement. _

"_In the words of Vector Industries' President and CEO, 'Shion quite literally saved my company. No other employee of mine has ever risked or given so much for the well-being of her colleagues, to whom they owe her their life. I am confident that she will carry out her duties as Director of my First R&D Division to the best of her abilities, and her continuing work as Chief Engineer of the KOS-MOS Development Team is second to none. She is in every respect a hero, and I am delighted that the Federation has chosen to drop its charges...' "_

"Oh God..." Shion slumped into her chair and covered her face in shame as what was easily the most unflattering picture ever taken of her flashed upon the Elsa's main U.M.N. Terminal. Her embarrassment was not eased by the piercing looks that all the male members on the Elsa threw at her.

"'The crew'?" Jr. scowled, "I get my ass almost blown apart on the Ormus Stronghold, I hold off an entire army of Ormus jerks in Labyrinthos while Shion takes her sweet time in getting there, I run around on the Dammerung like a maniac disabling its Security Systems, and the media doesn't even mention my name! I just get grouped into this ambiguous term, 'the crew.' It sounds like I'm part of this big gay group of sailors."

Shion ignored Jr.'s incessant complaints, more worried that people other that herself had seen the newsflash, and more importantly, her cross-eyed, open-mouthed picture.

"How many people do you think saw that?" Shion asked, her voice muffled by the hands that covered her voice.

"Considering the transmission was a U.M.N. Emergency Newsflash, the Federation will have propagated it throughout the entirety of the Unus Mundus, so the most accurate assumption is that everyone who has access to the U.M.N. will receive the newsflash within the next twenty-four hours. My estimate is that the inhabitants of over 500,000 planets will witness that transmission between today and tomorrow." KOS-MOS told her flatly.

"I can never show my face in public again..." Shion grumbled.

MOMO, as usual, saw everything through rose-colored glasses, "I think it's wonderful Shion! Why are you so upset? That entire newsflash was singing your praises, and besides," she lowered her voice to a confidential whisper, "don't you think chaos will have seen it?"

Shion's face blushed and blanched simultaneously, giving her the impression of a ghost with a nasty sunburn, "I hope not!–I–I mean, why would I care whether he does or doesn't see it? That's about the ugliest picture of me I've ever seen!—Tony would you stop laughing! Turn the terminal off already!" She stomped her foot angrily and attempted to sever the connection herself as Tony and her brother laughingly pointed out some of the more poignant details of the picture.

"Look here, her eyes are crossed!" Tony hollered, "It looks like she's retarded!"

"It is not funny to make fun of the mentally challenged." Shion scowled, covering the terminal's screen with her hands before Tony could point out the unsightly blemish on her chin.

"Crew! I almost die on Labyrinthos and there's no remote mention of me anywhere in that stupid newsflash!" Jr. continued, making an effort to evoke pity in anyone who was listening.

"You are wrong, Jr. There was mention of the Kukai Foundation, and it would be logical for people to associate you with that space colony." KOS-MOS offered helpfully.

"Oh, stick a sock in it, KOS-MOS! You're just all happy that billions and billions of people just heard your name over the Unus Mundus. Your _full _name at that!–the Kosmos Obey Multiple Sexy Orgasm System or whatever the heck it is!"

KOS-MOS eyed him for a fairly long time, "I am sorry, but my emotion module has not been calibrated to deal with illogical human jealousy."

A short pause ensued, followed by an explosion of laughter and a very disgruntled Jr.

"Well, you people are all hilarious," Captain Mathews said coldly as he made his way back to the bridge, "Hey Tony! We're less than an AU away from Second Milita. Is the Elsa going to land itself? Or are you going to get your lazy ass in the pilot's seat and do what I pay you to do?"

Tony reluctantly trudged back to the bridge, followed by the other crew members who were knocked out of their reverie by the Captain's barking.

Jr. lingered behind, "We'll be on Second Miltia before you know it," he told Shion, winking at her, "Are you ready?"

"Of course I'm ready, and what are you implying?" She folded her arms.

He laughed, "Ok, play dumb, I suppose it suits you. A hundred bucks says you'll be kissing chaos within five minutes of your arrival."

"You know, I would usually ignore a typical, stupid comment like that, especially coming from you, but since the chances of that happening are non-existent, it's a deal." She shook his hand, "and remember, he ripped my heart in two. Regardless of what you think, I doubt he's eager to see me, or I him for that matter. I'm only meeting up with him now because you want me to."

"Oh God, help, help! I'm drowning in a load of bullshit!" He laughed, "it's good that Wilhelm gave you a raise, because you'll be forking over cash soon. But maybe you really aren't all that excited about seeing him; I mean, we'll be landing in ten minutes and you haven't even–"

"What!" She bolted frantically for her cabin, "Ten minutes? I haven't even combed my hair yet! I still need to–"

"Heh, heh, not eager to see him are you?" Jr. smirked.

"I–he–it's just...oh, go screw yourself, Jr.!"

She hurried for the bathroom and the sounds of Jr.'s laughter slowly faded away.

—

"_The Star-ship cruiser Elsa has just disembarked in Port 7. Welcome to Second Miltia. All passengers please prepare for customs and checking."_

chaos smiled and got up from his seat in the Miltian Spaceport's waiting area. He made his way to Port 7, and patiently awaited Shion's arrival. The warmth in his heart seemed to be spreading throughout his entire body. So Wilhelm had made his moves on her? Well, we'll see...

—

"Why am I so freaking nervous?" Shion grumbled to herself as she made her way down the Spaceport's Arrivals Terminal. In her frantic haste to make herself look presentable, which, despite her efforts, hadn't turned out exactly the way she had hoped, (hair streaked across her forehead in untidy spikes, her heavy bag bounced unceremoniously against her rear as she managed to hook it around her elbow...And her clothes, well, she had thrown on anything that didn't qualify as her Vector uniform. Coincidentally, she wore the same red tank-top, black jacket, and same pants she had worn when chaos told her she "looked great" a few days ago. She thought nothing of it, but it was probably her subconscious screaming to tell her something), she hadn't realized how awkward this meeting would be. Butterflies were tearing away at her stomach, and what bothered her most was the fact that she _shouldn't_ be nervous. He should be the one wetting his pants right now!

She grabbed her back, hoisted it further up her shoulder, and walked purposefully out into the Spaceport's Arrivals. Whatever her nervousness was, she wasn't going to give chaos the satisfaction of knowing that she'd been suffering since he left. Which was silly in itself, she thought, they'd only been apart for less then twenty-four hours. But she knew the truth, their temporary separation had been total and complete, compounded by Shion's trials on Old Miltia, and it tore across all physical and emotional bonds between them, inflicting more damage than an entire lifetime apart could have done.

He didn't have to know that though. Shion grinned and suddenly felt a strange sense of power swell up inside her. She was exhausted, but felt refreshed and confident at the same time. The ball was in her field now; she was up from her down. The nervousness turned into adrenaline, and she would show the world (chaos) how strong she really was.

—

chaos's eyes scanned the flow of people that was quickly filing out of Port 7, and he spotted her. It was impossible to miss her, she emerged among the other passengers like a flame. She was stunning, strutting confidently down the port's jet-way like a supermodel. He sensed within her a powerful energy, a force that drew him to her like a magnet. Although she appeared battle-weary and disheveled, to him she still managed to look beautiful all the same. He waved at her, and gazed tenderly in her dierection as she approached him.

—

Crap. He wasn't nervous at all. Shion had expected this moment to be incredibly awkward, but it was impossible to feel awkward around chaos. He exuded an aura of calm and peacefulness, and she found (to her dismay) that her apprehension melted away immediately once her eyes met his. Her speedy, confident strut came to a halt, and she walked up to him almost bashfully, hating herself for turning to jell-o at his gaze. Five meters, two meters, a few feet, she closed the distance between them until she was close enough to touch him, and as she began speaking, she fought against the thoughts that were really going through her head.

"Hi," she whispered. _God I've missed you._

"Hey, Shion." He smiled warmly at her. She gripped her bag in an attempt to keep from falling over, "I noticed you on the news today. It seems like you've accomplished a lot."

"Yeah, well...We've made some discoveries." _I wished you were there with me._

"I'm sorry I didn't make it to Old Miltia, but, I doubt I could have prevented anything. Has Ormus really stolen the original Zohar?"

She nodded nervously, avoiding his gaze. Why wasn't he feeling all weird now? Not that she minded, but... "So, how about you?" _President Wilhelm asked me out to dinner! He kissed my hand! Does that mean nothing to you?_

chaos gazed at her in a way that seemed to plunge into her very soul, "I've made some decisions."

"Oh?" She breathed, unsure of what to make of his statement. At that moment, her bag slipped and she shifted her posture so that it wouldn't fall to the floor. She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and shook her bangs out of her eyes.

He couldn't take it anymore. Her movements were so sweet, so innocent, timid even, but at the same time intriguing and unbelievably sexy. Shion met his gaze again and came up short of breath. His eyes were passionate, almost feral. Emerald flames danced in his irises. A scarlet blush streaked across her cheeks; his gaze was so intense...

"Look, chaos, I–ah!" She felt warmth envelope her and found herself being pulled into a heart-melting kiss. Her heart soared. She was floating...floating in a heavenly cloud. Her fears (and rational thought) dissolved at the lightest touch of his lips brushing against her own. She craved his touch, reveled in the feeling of his hands running down her sides, stroking her back, caressing her cheeks...His hot, soft tongue licked sensually against her lips and her knees buckled...

"Hey!" She yelled, and, fighting against every urge that surged through her body, she shoved him away, while secretly aching for his warmth, "you've got a lot of nerve, chaos!"

He smiled apologetically, and she ignored the fluttering in her heart.

"First you make me drool over you like an idiot on the Elsa!" She scowled, "Having me run circles around you like some love-sick teenager! Then you refuse to open up to me, breaking my heart and blasting my self-esteem into nothingness! And now you're–you're kissing me in the Miltian Spaceport!–"

"Yeshua."

She stopped ranting and stared, a confused expression on her face, "huh?"

"My name is Yeshua."

"Wh–wha...oh." She breathed.

"At first I thought I could protect you by keeping you in the dark, but I know that's not true now. I've made my own decisions, without regrets. My destiny is what it is, but my life is what I make of it—right here, right now, regardless of fate. There's too much I risk losing if I don't...Well, let's just say that despite my best efforts, we're all involved now, and..." He placed his hand on her cheek, "You have the right to know anything you want." He smiled tenderly, "no more secrets."

Shion reeled back in shock, sheer joy surging across her face. Was she hallucinating? Had he just offered to open up to her? She tried in vain to analyze the implications of chaos's refusal to be secretive and mysterious from now on, but she got lost in his gaze. She shook excitedly, searching his eyes for...anything! But found to her surprise that they didn't pacify her this time, they energized her.

"So...you..." She paused, hands frozen in the air in mid-gesture, perplexed, afraid to accept what was really going on in case it wasn't true. He had to hold himself back, she looked adorable.

"No," she said finally, grinning. The final wall came crashing down. She was sure of it, feelings this strong were never wrong. "You just told me everything I needed to know."

chaos beamed her a smile that lit up the spaceport, but she didn't give him a chance to respond. She flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into an intense, searing kiss.

"Damn it." She moaned lightly against his lips a few long seconds later.

"What?" He chuckled, coming up for air.

"I owe Jr. a hundred dollars..."

—

"You gotta be kidding me!"

Captain Mathews was not happy. He, Jr., KOS-MOS, MOMO, and Jin stood in the basement of a fast crumbling shop whose infrastructure was made of plastic. This gave the impression that the building was about to cave in and collapse at any minute on the unsuspecting customers below. The shop was part of an old, run-down space colony whose only purpose in the cosmos was providing fuel for passing ships—who, incidentally, wanted to leave the colony as soon as they arrived, making it a profitable refueling spot. No one in their right minds would ever stop at the colony for more than an hour, the time it usually took to refuel. No one, that is, but the Captain, who had been forced by his Little Master to purchase Ether-steel metal, a material only sold on the old colony. The salesman of the shop–a fat, greasy ball of lard–was so excited when he saw actual customers walk cautiously into his basement for the first time in three years that he actually forgot what his job entailed for the first ten minutes of their arrival. When he realized that they were indeed interested in buying something, he began jumping around excitedly. So much did his overweight body pound against the floor that Jin wondered if it the shop may need its floor-boards reenforced afterwards.

"You must be joking!" The Captain continued, still not happy. The greasy salesman had offered to sell three cargo-boxes of Ether-steel metal for the "low price" of 500,000 dollars. This did not sit well with the Captain. Or Jin. Or MOMO. Or Jr. Or even KOS-MOS, but the Captain was the only one who was vocal about it.

"I am so sorry sir." The sales man said, rubbing his hands together, "but that is the lowest price I can offer you. Either 500,000 dollars or no deal. You know, the penalty for selling you something either greatly over-priced or under-priced is so severe these days that the Federation could shut down this entire colony for good if I were to scam you like that!"

"Really?" The Captain snorted, "then pack your bags, because 500,000 dollars is outrageous!"

The salesman huffed, more like wheezed actually, his corpulent body didn't allow him much energy for anything more forceful than a sigh, "You mean to tell me, that I have over-priced my products!"

"Affirmative." All heads turned, surprised. KOS-MOS was monitoring the supply of the Ether-steel metal, "taking into account the poor condition of this metal and the actual, physical value of one Federation dollar, my sensors responsible for metallic analyzation and my economic value processor would not place these three cargo-boxes of Ether-steel metal above the price of 200 dollars. Simple mathematics and the economic of theory supply and demand validate this observation."

The salesman's eyes darted about nervously and glared at KOS-MOS. Mathews looked as if he were about to kiss her.

"I will understand," continued KOS-MOS, "if you do not wish to value your products fairly and adjust your prices accordingly. Keep in mind, we came here to buy these metals in goodwill. I could have just as easily destroyed your store and stolen the metal myself. If you prefer not to reconsider your offer, I'm sure the Federation will be delighted to shut down a dishonest business like yours–"

"Alright, alright, please!" The salesman's lip quivered, terrified," Don't tell the feds, I'll-I'll make you a fair deal, I promise! 150 dollars for all three boxes, I'll throw in another box free if you need it, just please don't shut my business down!"

"Quit your blubbering." the Captain silenced the crying fat man, "it's a deal. Jin make yourself useful, help Jr. haul those cargo-boxes into the Elsa. And KOS-MOS, I think I'm in love with you!"

KOS-MOS blinked at the Captain. For the first time since her activation, her emotion module failed to provide her with an adequate response.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the crumbling space colony:

"I'll pay 450 for that celluloid High-Frequency A.I. chip." Tony declared, bargaining with an attractive young girl whose job was to sell various robot and computer parts.

"I'm–I'm sorry sir, but the price is 700 dollars. What are you trying to do?" The salesgirl asked, blushing slightly as she was taken aback by the suave, good-looking pilot who had entered her shop along with his nerdy friend.

"I'm bargaining with you!" Tony grinned, pointing at the A.I. chip emphatically, as if to make a point.

"Um, well, I don't do that!" The salesgirl said, flustered. She pointed at Hammer, "he didn't bargain with me!"

Tony turned to look at Hammer, who had apparently paid full-price for what appeared to be an extremely expensive aggressive neural processor, "Well, he didn't shower for the last three days either, so don't go comparing him with me." Tony flashed her a toothy grin and ran a hand through his locks, taking the opportunity to flex his well developed biceps.

"Hey!" Hammer protested, "I paid good money for this ANP!"

Tony shot him a dirty look, "Ok, first of all, only geeks abbreviate their robot parts. Second of all," he lowered his voice, "I'm trying to save us some cash here so the Captain doesn't ream us a new pair of assholes! Could you leave, please!"

Hammer understood and left the store, searching for a shop that might sell Erde sinews.

"So," Tony said, turning back to the salesgirl, "how about we make a deal? You sell me that A.I. chip for 450 dollars, and I'll treat you to a nice dinner in a suit in that nice—er, kind of nice—hotel up there...catch my drift?"

The girl caught it, and she couldn't help but feel excited. She pondered the proposition for a moment. She lived in a drab, old, falling-apart space colony where she had to deal with the same ugly people every single day of her boring life, and here she was, in the prime of her...womanly graces. She finally found herself a good-looking, muscular pretty-boy. The chances of finding another one in this place were close to zero.

"Ok, I am hungry..." she licked her lips happily and sold Tony the A.I. chip for the newly established price. "Meet me up at the hotel in five minutes."

Tony started panting excitedly, "you know, I'm also interested in getting that combat chip for a more affordable price. Do you think that would be possible?"

"Well," the girl smiled, suddenly finding her dingy shop hot, and was forced to unbutton the first three buttons of her blouse, "that depends on how well our dessert goes."

—

"A convertible? I didn't think you were the kind of person to place aesthetics over practicality, chaos!" Shion screamed above the roar of the wind. She and chaos sat in a topless car, zooming away from the spaceport and towards downtown Second Miltia. The towering government buildings soared high above them to their right.

"I'm not," he yelled, switching into high-gear and gunning the car into the fast line, "this was the cheapest thing I could find on such short notice. Jr. called me last night and expected me to be ready to pick you up with a car in twelve hours. I suppose this one is neat and flashy and sucks more gas than a luxury space cruiser, but I wonder what one is supposed to do when it rains?"

She laughed. Her hair whipped wildly around her head in the wind as they sped down the freeway. She had trouble understanding chaos sometimes. The way he gave her the cold treatment, and then was suddenly warm and friendly again. Hot, cold, hot, cold...one thing was for certain though, she could barely think straight whenever he was hot.

"So what's the situation with Ormus and their new superweapon?" chaos asked, finding it difficult to speak above the car's rumbling engines.

'Sure,' she thought, 'pretend to be all serious now with that we-have-to-save-the-universe attitude of yours. I know the truth: You missed me, you adorable little angel-boy. Could hardly keep your hands off of me within seconds of my arrival. That's exactly the kind of behavior which is going to have me panting at your feet very quickly..." She stared at his currently wind-battered face, silver locks flying all over the place...

"Well?" He shouted, thinking she hadn't heard his question above the wind and the engines.

"Huh? Oh..." Smooth, Shion, have him catch you drooling on his lap, "Uh...one of the cardinals of the Immigrant Fleet, Patriarch, stole the Zohar and used it to power Proto Omega–some gigantic sort of combat mech that uses a U.M.N. Phase Transfer Cannon!" She screamed, "Patriarch claims Ormus has been granted the right by God to use the Zohar, and with it they'll exterminate the Gnosis, rid the world of spineless humans, and open the path to Lost Jerusalem. I think KOS-MOS has something to do with that. And they hope to kill an Aeon in order to gain control of the Unus Mundus, but I don't know all the details." Her voice started to hurt from all her yelling, and she failed to notice the shiver that crept up chaos's spine.

"So why are we on Second Miltia with orders from Jr. to get to the city as quickly as possible?" He asked.

"Because," she explained, leaning closer to his ear so that she wouldn't have to scream, "there's a senile old man on the Elsa who claims he can build an Erde robot. He's a professor from the Robot Academy which recently rebuilt his headquarters on the Elsa."

"I bet the Captain is thrilled about that." chaos chuckled.

"You could imagine. Anyway, apparently this Erde robot will be incredibly powerful, enough to take down or at least help us defeat Patriarch and Proto Omega. The catch is that you can only summon the robot as an Ether spell, and other Ether skills are required before you can summon the Erde. We can only learn those skills inside a Forbidden Encephalon Dive, which is located in downtown Second Miltia. One of the Professor's colleagues is in charge of the Dive. That's why we're here, screaming at each other like lunatics because you're driving 40 miles above the speed limit and I can't hear anything!"

"Well, I'm going to be deaf by the time we reach our destination because you've been screaming in my ear for the past two minutes!" He hollered, laughing, "By the way, could you stop flirting and breathing down my neck? I'm trying to drive here, less distractions would be appreciated."

"I'll give you distractions..." She grinned mischievously and squeezed his thigh.

—

"'Second Miltia Ballet Academy'?" Shion stared at the smooth, steel building in front of her, slightly doubting that the Professor had given her the right address. She had arrived at what apparently was their destination.

"No, I don't think that's it either. Look over there." chaos said, pointing to a door to the Ballet Academy's left. Shion shrugged and tried her luck with the door chaos indicated. The interior did indeed look like a lab.

"Excuse me," Shion asked a technician in a white lab coat, "I'm looking for a woman named Janet."

The technician turned to face Shion, "I'm Janet. How can I help you?"

"We're friends of the Professor from the Robot Academy. We were wondering if you would allow us to use your Forbidden Encephalon Dive device. I'm afraid the matter is urgent and extremely important."

The technician eyed Shion and chaos somewhat sympathetically, "the Professor, huh? So he's managed to ensnare other youths to do his dirty work for him. I don't think so, Miss. It's called the _Forbidden _Encephalon Dive for a reason—wait a minute." She stared intently at Shion for a moment, "you aren't by any chance Shion Uzuki are you? That Director from Vector?"

Shion blushed, suddenly remembering that hers had become a household name, "Yes. I am Shion Uzuki. Chief Engineer of the KOS-MOS Development Team and Director of Vector's First—well, you saw the newsflash. No need to repeat myself."

"I thought it was you." Janet said, still staring at Shion, "it's just that...That picture they showed of you on the U.M.N..."

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm not very photogenic. Either way, this forbidden Dive, it regards Ormus. What we find in there may be able to help us stop their superweapon! You have to let us Dive."

Janet considered this, "Is it true that you single-handedly disabled ten A.M.W.S. Units?"

"Uh...yeah, yes it is." How the heck did Janet manage to get that information?

chaos seemed surprised, "Wait a minute, when did that happen?"

Shion spun around, frustrated, "Huh? Oh, long story, I'll tell you later. Look, Janet!" She whipped around again, taking hold of the technician's shoulders, but chaos beat her to the punch:

"Whether the Dive is dangerous or not is not a priority now. If we don't find what we're searching for soon, Ormus may inflict a great deal of damage on the Star Cluster. You may be able to help us stop one of the Federation's most dangerous enemies. If it is our safety you are worried about, you should now that we are experienced fighters, and if anything happens we certainly won't hold you accountable."

Janet eyed chaos for a while, "no, it's not that. It's just...this Forbidden Encephalon Dive device isn't like other dives. You see that panel down there?" She pointed downstairs on the lab's lower floor to a glowing green insignia on the floor, "that's the Dive device. Once you step on it, you'll be physically projected into cyberspace completely, and you won't be able to come out unless you find that insignia again once you're in cyberspace."

Shion pondered this for a moment. Did they have a choice? There were bigger things at stake, "Well, then there won't be any risk of the Dive being intercepted, will there?"

Janet's brow furrowed, puzzled by the question, "No, the Dive is a closed circuit, but...if you get hurt or trapped inside, there's no way for you to get out. No one will be monitoring the Dive. The two of you will be on your own."

Shion smiled, "I couldn't be safer then." She stole a glance at chaos, who blushed in spite of himself, "look, Janet, you have no idea of what's about to happen. We need the Ether skills contained in that Dive! Believe it or not, the universe depends upon it!"

"Well, you certainly do seem fit for the Dive, and if the Professor did recommend you...alright. But I must warn you, once you're in–you're in! I won't be able to pull you out. I won't even be able to reach you, since the Dive becomes inaccessible once the first Divers access the Encephalon."

"We understand." chaos told her, "don't worry about us."

"Alright." She led them downstairs and deactivated the security system which kept the Dive device off limits, "but make sure you both make it back in one piece. I would never be able to live with my conscience if something bad happened in my lab on my account.

They thanked her and proceeded to the glowing green insignia. Shion eyed it nervously and grabbed chaos's hand.

"You scared?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

She looked into his eyes, then to her hand in his, "nope."

They stepped onto the Forbidden Encephalon Dive device together, and disappeared into cyberspace.

—

She staggered a bit, blinked, and found her bearings. She had been completely projected into cyberspace, both her psyche and her physical body. She felt chaos materialize beside her. Taking a shaky step to make sure the Dive had been successful, she glanced up and observed her surroundings.

"Oh my gosh," she gasped, "What is this place? It's...beautiful."

She stood on a long, marble platform that was part of what appeared to be a floating castle in the sky. Stone and marble structures towered above her, and in the near distance she spotted a long, cylindrical tower that swept up into the heavens. Just stone and marble, no steel, the structure looked ancient and bore with it an air of majesty. The place was unlike anything Shion had ever seen before. Clouds floated above her, beneath her; the wind played with her hair and whipped at her clothes. She was in awe.

chaos also seemed surprised, but for a different reason. How had a place like this become part of the Encephalon?

"Heaven's Ruins." He whispered somberly, as if saying the name too loud or disrespectfully would shatter the Dive.

Shion turned to him curiously, "You know this place?" Heer eyes scanned the long, elegant platform that stretched out towards the castle. Luminescent crystals dotted the marble passageway like sentinels.

"Yes." He breathed, "you could say I'm from here."

She gazed at him again. _Heaven's _Ruins. chaos had _angel _wings. It made some sense. She also knew that _Yeshua _had something to do with the divine, but she had pushed it to the back of her head for now. She knew that with the mysterious chaos one could never probe too deeply. He still hadn't given her a satisfactory answer for the time he made the Gnosis disintegrate just by touching it, on the day they first met...

"It's a travesty though." He sighed, gazing longingly at the ruins, "this place is crawling with Gnosis now. I can feel it. Janet wasn't kidding when she said this Dive was dangerous." His gaze hardened as he felt the ruthless power of the Gnosis that lurked inside the ruins' interior. He pulled her towards him protectively, "Stay close."

She was surprised by his sudden display of concern but not altogether displeased, "Hey, chaos, it's ok. I can hold my own you know–I mean, billions of people know that." _Yeah, I kicked ass left and right on Old Miltia and the Dammerung. I'm still sore._

"Oh, right." He blushed and released her arm, "it's just...I saw you in the Dive Terminal on the Dammerung, when that Gnosis...all that blood and gore...You didn't look good." His words trailed off abruptly.

She understood, "You don't have to worry. You're here with me now, chaos."

He tried to conceal another blush. He looked so cute!

"Oh, that's alright isn't it?" She asked, "If I keep calling you chaos? I guess old habits die hard, but–"

"No, it's fine. I'm not really fond of my other name." He smiled.

She thought she knew why, but she pushed the reason to the back of her head again. Something inside of her refused to think about it.

"Well, time is short." She stated. They took off down the platform, and entered the castle's dark interior.

The Gnosis were indeed powerful, strange, and fought in ways that Shion had never seen before. They seemed frightfully intelligent, and more intent on strategically disabling their opponents rather than killing ruthlessly like their other, weaker brothers. One such Gnosis, the Deion, was all about the speed, swooping around her and chaos like a ghost and tackling them with bone-breaking force. chaos seemed terrified for her safety, but she felt strangely calm.

"It weak against Aura Ether." She stated, analyzing the Gnosis on her M.W.S. She ducked from Deion's tackle.

"Boost your Ether, chaos! If I can get behind it we can attack it on both sides!"

The Gnosis whipped around and sped towards her again. chaos started for her, but she dove for the floor, evading Deion's attack, and rolled to the other side of the stone precipice on which they fought. Deion reeled and stumbled from its own momentum.

"Open Ether circuit..."

"Grant me a fragment of thy power..."

"Aura Blast!" Their voices resounded around the castle as one.

Silvery missiles shot out of Shion's and chaos's hands and crossed paths with the Gnosis. Deion spun about, shrieked, and exploded. Shion teetered from the blast and almost fell off the precipice.

"Ah! Oh, whew. Uh, s–so predictable. No problem!" She regained her balance and grabbed chaos for support.

To her dismay, the interior of Heaven's Ruins didn't seem as balanced and straight-forward as she thought. For a start, the castle didn't have a floor, more like winding stone bridges that closed gaps between one wall and another, forming precipices around the structure's center. One wrong step and she'd fall off the stone bridge and plummet down towards...What? Infinity? Only sky was visible below her. If the precarious stone bridges weren't enough to irk her, the lack of order in the ruins would. Her problem was compounded by the fact that she had no idea which of the stone pathways to take. She could see just from where she stood that many of them led to dead ends.

"Whoa, you ok?" chaos asked, hoisting her away from the edge of the precipice.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, fine. I was just thinking...Where do we go from here?"

He smiled, "That should be the least of your worries. I know my way around. Just follow me, I'll lead. Stay close though, it's a long drop down."

She looked down (bad idea) and gulped. Fluffy white clouds billowed beneath her. She instinctively grabbed his hand, and he led her down one of the castle's twisting, floating passageways outside to an open, platform on the castle's west. No walls, no ceiling, just a floating platform in the middle of the sky, connected to the castle by a stone bridge.

"This should be the first place." He whispered, crouching behind a stone block, "but I doubt we'll get that Ether skill without a fight."

She peeked over the block's edge. A nasty looking Golem lumbered about on the floating stone platform. She didn't like Golems much. In her list of Most Hated Gnosis, this one ranked definitely up in the top five.

"It looks strong." She whimpered, squeezing his hand.

"Oh, it is." He eyed the Golem coldly, "we can't afford to be careless. If you know any ice Ether use it, because that element appears to be its weakness."

She stole a glance at the Gnosis again, "How can you tell?"

"Well, it's red, which probably means it's fire-based, and ice–well, water more specifically–is fire's natural weakness."

She couldn't help but smile. Sometimes the correct answer was the simplest one. She searched her brain for all the ice Ether skills she knew, but came up short because the Golem had somehow sensed their presence and its boulder-like fist came crashing down on the stone block they were hiding behind, inconveniently interrupting Shion's thoughts.

Her only line of defense now shattered, Shion tried her best not to panic, "Split up!" She screamed, as the Golem lunged for them. She took off past the monster's left, chaos to its right. They bolted down the stone bridge onto the floating platform the Gnosis had been standing on. It was the only option they had available in terms of direction, but now they were trapped.

"Fire!" She yelled, more out of fear then out of necessity to inform chaos that they should attack something that was intent on splattering their guts against the castle's ramparts. She inundated the Gnosis with electrical charges from her M.W.S. as chaos pummeled it with glowing, silvery fists. The Golem seemed unfazed, and continued to chase after them, swinging its heavy arms wildly. chaos ducked from a skull-crushing blow, Golem's fist grazing his face, and he hurried back towards Shion. She grabbed him and pulled him back to the other side of the platform, as far away as possible from the fast approaching monster.

"It appears Aura attacks don't affect this Golem like other Gnosis." chaos muttered angrily, feeling a deep, bloody laceration on his cheek.

"Yeah, thunder is out of the question too." She frowned, nursing his wound back to health with a hastily cast Medica Ether.

The monster lunged for them, they stepped back. One more step and they'd fall off the platform into oblivion. It was because of this dire situation that Shion was especially happy when a particularly good idea struck her, "chaos, do you know how to re-configure your elemental attacks?" She asked, yanking him around the perimeter of the platform in an effort to buy themselves some time.

"Yes." He looked at her hopefully, catching on to what she was saying, "let's synchronize our Ether. Grant my a fragment of they power..."

"Open Ether circuit..."

"Ice Sword!"

Shion felt a slight shiver as icy energy surged from her arm into her M.W.S. She noticed the same thing happened to chaos. Without thinking twice, they both turned to the Golem and unleashed a barrage of frosty missiles, battering the Gnosis with chilling attacks. The monster staggered and fell, writhing in agony.

"chaos! I think it's working!" She yelled happily but no longer felt his presence beside her. She looked up and found him floating above the platform, wings extended, charging a thick ball of energy in the palms of his hands.

"Arctic Blast!"

Shion ducked instinctively. A snowballing boulder of ice sailed over her head and crashed into the Golem, exploding in a million shards of frosty snowflakes. Shion staggered to the floor, she felt her vision shatter around her just like the ice as her world shook and crumbled in a cold rage. Everything went black.

—

She fell, plummeting down through an endless sky. White, wispy clouds flashed before her eyes, but she didn't feel gravity's pull. She didn't feel the roar of the wind, nor the sense of vertigo.

"Shion."

She craned her neck and saw Nephilim falling beside her.

"Nephilim? What's going on–"

"Stop Testament!" The young girl was angry, enraged even.

"What? Nephilim what are you–"

"Stop Testament!" She repeated, "What used to be a holy and noble cause is in reality a sick perversion of the truth and will end in a gruesome murder."

"Wha...?"

—

Bang. Her eyes snapped open as her head hit the hard stone platform.

"Shion!" chaos swooped down to her side and cradled her head, "Are you alright? You passed out."

She blinked, wincing in pain but at the same time reveling in his sweet touch, "Uh, yeah. I had another vision. No! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He helped her up to her feet but she staggered.

"What's wrong?" He asked, supporting her.

"Energy." She gasped.

"What?"

"The Ether skill..." She felt Ether energy surge through her, unlocking powers hidden within her and stretching the limits of her Ether capabilities, preparing her for the Erde Kaizer. "I learned it. Erde Storm. The first skill I need to summon the robot." She inhaled a deep breath and flexed her tired muscles, feeling the newly infused energy within her. She knew that the amount of Ether energy her body was capable of sustaining had just flown of the charts.

chaos nodded, glad she wasn't hurt, "Ok, if you're feeling well then we should continue. If my memory serves me correctly, there is another platform just like this one on the eastern end of the ruins. I wouldn't be surprised if we had to battle another Gnosis there."

He wasn't wrong. Another Golem lay waiting for them at the castle's eastern platform. Thunder-based, so Shion's attacks were useless. Naturally, it was a little stronger than the first Golem, a little faster, a little meaner, a bigger pain to defeat. Within five minutes chaos lay sprawled on the platform, unconscious, and Shion stood over him guarding his body, deflecting attacks from the Golem with the hope of protecting chaos's body from being mangled. The Thunder Veil they had cast together was beginning to fade, and Shion feared that the electrical surges thundering out of the Golem's fists would soon shatter her shield, and collide with her vulnerable frame. She realized in that moment how strong she and chaos were when they fought together. When they synchronized their Ether and attacked simultaneously, they were unbeatable. Alone, well...Shion had some trouble.

This is why she was incredibly happy (since chaos lay unconscious at her feet and had wound up that way because he had shielded her from the Gnosis's attacks) when another brilliant idea struck her. In her panic to defeat the Golem, she had forgotten what she just learned:

"Erde Storm!"

The Ether drain was significant, but with good reason. The sky ripped open above her, and powerful vortexes tore across the platform, falling from the sky, and ripped the shrieking Golem to shreds.

Staggering to regain her energy, she knelt over chaos and cast the most powerful healing Ether spell she knew, "Come on." She groaned, "Wake up." Her last image was that of chaos stirring and his eyes fluttering open before she passed out again.

—

She fell yet again. Nephilim was starting to become predictable. Something was different this time though. Shion was falling through darkness, and something about this vision made her blood run cold. The voice that spoke to her was not Nephilim's and all that Shion could see were dark, red, ruthless eyes.

"While His sacrifice will be painful to some, it will save all. He was born for that purpose. You must not let your emotions get in the way of destiny..."

The darkness gave way to something much more horrifying. The incident two years ago, Kevin lay dying in her lap, bloody and disturbing. But when she saw his eyes...emerald irises. She screamed, tried to force the macabre image from her mind, tried to drown out the voice in her head:

"The Savior will save, only if He dies."

—

Screaming and shaking, she bolted to a sitting position and wrapped her arms around a very concerned chaos. He held her tightly, and waited for her to calm down.

"Another vision?" He asked.

She nodded, still too frightened to speak. She thought she knew what the vision meant. She didn't want to know. She ignored it.

"From Nephilim?" He whispered.

"No." She breathed against his neck. She waited a while, "Erde Quake."

"Hm?"

"Erde Quake, that's the new Ether Skill I just learned. I–I don't know how I know this, but the Encephalon's insignia, it's on the top of the tower. We have to reach it if we want to leave this place." She stood up, determined.

"Judging by what's been happening," he told her, "our journey to the top of the tower may be painful for you. There's no telling how many more visions you'll receive. Are you sure you want to continue?"

She nodded, "Do I have a choice? I can't back out now! We need the last Ether skill! I'll do whatever it takes..."

chaos smiled, amazed. That was the kind of inner strength that had gotten her this far, and he loved her for it. "Alright. Let's go." He took her hand and led her back to the ruins' interior.

She noticed the iron gated archway that led to the base of the tower was open now. The defeat of the two Golems must have triggered some sort of ancient switch, as if the ruins deemed them worthy of entering its sacred tower.

The sheer magnitude of Heaven's Ruins jumped out at her as she and chaos ascended the spiral staircase that run alongside the walls of the tower. Everything about this place was majestic and mysterious, and as she stared at the ancient runes and carvings on the tower's inner wall, its aura of mystery forced out of her a string a questions that collapsed on themselves like dominos: _What does chaos mean when he says he's from here? Is he really an angel? Who is the Aeon that Ormus is so intent on sacrificing? What or who is Testament? Why is Kevin recurring in my nightmares again? When would KOS-MOS wake up? And what would happen when she did?_

Up and up they kept on climbing, and Shion felt as if her mission and all her answers would climax at the summit and finally enlighten her. She never felt such a strong sense of urgency. Pity on the Gnosis who stood in her way now. Nothing would stop her from reaching the summit.

chaos was in awe of her. She was wasting some of the most powerful Gnosis they had ever encountered. He knew that her power had been undoubtedly bolstered by her newly acquired Erde skills, but it was something more than that. She fought with a purpose now, she fought because of a vow she made to herself to discover all the answers.

They emerged into sunlight. Now the staircase winded upwards on the outside of the tower. If either of them slipped, they'd fall for hundreds of feet and crash into the marble platform below them. If they were lucky enough to miss the hard, marble floor, they'd continue to fall for eternity. This disquieting thought was especially disturbing when an Armaros materialized before them in a frightening burst of the stuff that nightmares are made of. Armaros—the same Gnosis that had turned Shion into a bloody, gory mess in the Dammerung's Dive Terminal. She didn't flinch though, much to chaos's surprise, and to her own as well. She cast an Aura Sword on herself and charged the monster in a full, frontal attack, not allowing the Gnosis to even aim an attack at chaos. She fought savagely, shielding herself from its venomous attacks and nailing it with every special skill she knew, first a Lightning Blaster, then a Thermal Blast, then a Gravity Well. Armaros shook and sizzled furiously, and unleashed a sinister, searing wave of hellfire. Shion retaliated with her Erde Quake. Their attacks met and ricocheted off each other, resulting in a massive explosion. Armaros hit the wall of the tower, impaling itself on a spear-like sculpture, and disintegrated. Shion flew out in the opposite direction and hurtled like a rock towards oblivion.

"Waaahhh!" Her voice peeled around the tower as she tumbled through the air, finding it impossible not to panic. She had the wind knocked out of her, however, when her back landed on something soft and she felt two arms grip her waist in a strong embrace.

"Heh, heh, I caught a Shion!"

She opened one eye and looked down to find two gloved hands holding her firmly but tenderly across her stomach. She tilted her head upwards and, lo and behold, the emerald eyes she had grown so accustomed to smiled down at her. chaos had indeed caught her, and now they floated lazily in the air, held aloft by his feathery wings.

No matter how many times he touched her, she still blushed, "Yeah, you did." She grinned, "thank you, angel-boy. It's funny how often you've saved my life in the past five days. What would I do without you, or your wings?"

He laughed, "I usually don't like to abuse my powers, but I think our current situation qualifies as an emergency."

For some reason she knew why he disliked showing his wings so often, but again, she refused to address the thought.

"So," he continued, rocking her gently in the wind, "you tired of climbing stairs and fighting blood-thirsty Gnosis?"

She shrugged and avoided his gaze. His eyes were becoming very intense again, and she feared she'd lose herself in them if she continued to stare at him, "Well, I could continue if I absolutely have to, but it would be nice if the blood-thirsty Gnosis part could be avoided." She pouted at him longingly.

"Ok, hang on then. We're flying to the tower's summit."

She snaked her arms behind him and locked her fingers, "Yay! Just don't drop me and–ah! Ha, ha–stop it! Don't you dare tickle me! Or I'll trounce you like that Armaros."

"You know, I have never been more attracted to you." He grinned.

She blushed uncontrollably. With a powerful beat of his wings, they soared to the top of the tower and landed at the summit. When Shion's feet touched the stone floor and she looked down, the tower's base appeared miles away, her vision fogged by the passing clouds.

"Well, this is the top." She said, staring up. Nothing but sky stretched above her. "What's supposed to happen here?"

A deafening explosion answered her. A dark, silvery figure streaked across the sky and landed next to Shion and chaos with a shuddering crash. The dust cleared and a huge, humanoid Gnosis in Knight's armor sat on horseback, glaring at them. His horse seemed just about as evil as he was.

"Nepos Rigas?" chaos breathed, a fearful wonder in his voice.

The Gnosis cackled and his voice boomed around the ruins, "Foolish mortals! How dare you trespass on sacred ground? Prepare to meet your Creator!" He sneered at Shion, "Filthy human, and," his glowing red eyes froze on chaos. "What?..." He paused and leaned forward on his towering horse to take a closer look, "An Angel?" He cackled again, "yes, an Angel! How interesting. Welcome back, Yeshua, you disgusting dissenter. Have you come crawling back on your knees begging for forgiveness?"

chaos scowled, "Not in your lifetime."

Nepos Rigas shook indignatly.

"chaos," Shion whispered, "who is that?"

chaos grabbed her hand protectively, "Someone so foul that not even hell accepted him."

"Hah, you flatter me Yeshua. Who's the human filth you've dragged unceremoniously into our Ruins? I didn't think you were the type to associate with an inferior slut."

chaos bristled with rage, "You take that back–"

"Hey!" Shion yelled, "You better watch your mouth before I shove that horse of yours up your ass! I'm the Director of Vector's First Research & Development Div—"

Nepos Rigas fired a blinding white arrow in Shion's direction. chaos shoved her out of the way and the arrow sizzled at the spot where she stood, turning the stone into ash.

"Shion," chaos whispered, trying to keep his calm, "now is a really bad time to boast about your promotion."

"INSOLENT FILTH!" the Gnosis bellowed, "A typical stupid human. While amusing in your own repulsive way, your sass has just ended your life. Prepare for all the horrors of hell!"

chaos only had time to hoist Shion off the ground before Nepos Regas formed a protective barrier around himself.

"He's summoning a break-block." chaos told her, "he'll be invincible once that barrier is active, and he'll begin attacking with reckless abandon. Just defend yourself and deflect his attacks! Once he starts predicting our destinies, it means he's getting tired, and he'll begin to let loose his most powerful attack. Afterwards the barrier will be gone, and he'll attempt to reload his weapons. Use that time to attack him with everything you've got!"

Shion didn't have time to question him, as Nepos Rigas began unleashing the fastest and most devastating attacks she had ever witnessed.

_Magna Shot! _Shion and chaos Ether boosted an Aura Veil around themselves just in time.

_Hemorrhage Shot! _Shion dove for the floor as the glowing bulled whizzed above her head and collided with chaos's skull, resulting in an eruption of blood. She wasted no time in healing him.

_Kreuz Shot! _chaos deflected the attack with an Aura Blast. Shion let the bullet bounce of her M.W.S., but found her arm paralyzed afterwards. chaos restored her.

_Embrace! _Nepos Rigas lunged for Shion, crushing her slender frame with his deadly arms. chaos slugged the Gnosis, while she unleashed an Erde Storm, which forced Nepos Rigas to release her.

_Memory of Time! _"The door to Ruin opens!" Nepos Rigas hollered with delight.

"Up!" chaos screamed, grabbing her, unfurling his wings, and shooting up like a rocket into the air. Time froze. Shion and chaos lay immobilized in midair, and an explosion rocked the tower's summit. Embers flew past the couple's face, singing their clothes and stinging their faces, but they evaded the brunt of the attack.

_Ragnarok! _"Fate is unavoidable!" the Gnosis howled, "He will die before her eyes, and her mistakes will haunt her in hell!"

"Here it comes, look out!" chaos screamed. Nepos Rigas had prophesied, and now the Ragnarok was coming. The sky exploded, and millions of bullets rained down upon the ruins, shrieking with sonic booms and trailing fiery tails behind them, like hell-spawned comets.

Shion screamed and felt chaos's arms wrap around her as his wings crossed in front of her, forming a protective shield around them. Bullets grazed at their arms and legs, but his wings deflected the heaviest fire as they sank back to the ground.

Nepos Rigas scowled and slumped, his barrier fading.

"Now's our chance!" Shion screamed, hoisting her M.W.S.

"Lunar Seal!"

"Spell Ray!"

"Angel Wings!"

"Shock Blade!"

"Heaven's Wrath!"

"RAIN BLADE!"

The attacks, lasers, bursts of light, and feathery blasts surging out of Shion and chaos were cataclysmal. Nepos Regas convulsed with energy and a mushrooming explosion billowed out above the tower and rocked the ruins to their core. For a moment Shion feared the tower would crumble under their attacks, but it held fast. She'd never unleashed so many attacks in such quick succession before. She felt exhausted, and chaos had to hold her up to keep her from flopping to the ground.

Once the smoke cleared, a panting Nepos Regas lay sprawled on his dying horse.

"_You guys aren't bad!" _His booming voice clawed at Shion's heart, "_I'm impressed! How about it? Wanna play a game that tests each other's courage? I'll just sit here while one of you attacks me! If you can't beat me in one blow, then it'll be your turn to stand defenseless! Now, start whenever you're ready! Let's have some fun!" _

"Wh–what's he doing?" Shion asked chaos, struggling to balance on her feet.

"He won't attack us now until he's provoked. It's a vile little game he likes to play. We get to hit him with one attack. If we don't kill him with that attack, he'll _Embrace _the attacker."

Shion gulped, "So...I gather he's never lost at this game?"

chaos shook his head and began charging his Ether.

"No! What are you doing? You can't attack him! What if the attack isn't strong enough?" She cried wrenching his hands apart and dissolving the energy orb that had been materializing between them, "I'll do it!" She marched towards Nepos Regas.

chaos grabbed her and pulled her back, "Are you crazy! I don't think you've understood the gravity of the situation. If you attack him, and you don't defeat him, you _will _die."

Despite the circumstances, Shion felt a warm wave spread from her heart throughout her body. She and chaos were mutually concerned about each other. She'd sooner take a bullet to the head rather than see him risk his life against this awful Gnosis, and the fact that he would do the same for her...a strange feeling bubbled up inside her. Was there mutual care? Mutual _love_?

She looked at him pleadingly, "but what about the Erde Quake, or–or–"

"No way. It's too risky. Your life is non-negotiable, Shion."

"Hey! You filthy, inferior mortal and you irredeemable rebel!" Nepos Regas howled, "My patience is running thin. I could just as easily kill you both off right now!"

Shion gasped. What could they do? She became utterly ecstatic when her final, fantastically brilliant idea of the day forced itself into her mind. Reinvigorated with resolve, she grabbed chaos's right hand and placed it around her waist.

"What are you...?"

She pointed her M.W.S. aiming for Nepos Rigas's chest.

"Oh," chaos smiled and placed his left arm above her own.

"You scared?" She whispered, preparing the double tech. A neon blue eye formed in front of her weapon.

"No."

She grinned and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. It felt warm and sweet and good...

"**DUAL SPELL RAY!" **

The energized beam that erupted from her M.W.S. was more powerful than anything her weapon had ever produced. The beam tore across the tower and ripped through Nepos Rigas's body. He convulsed in agony and finally exploded in a shower of sparks. The attack knocked Shion back with such force that even chaos staggered to keep her from falling. The wind blasted their faces, the ground rumbled beneath their feet, and Shion felt oblivion creeping up on her.

—

She swam frantically in the darkness, calling for help, until Shion finally met Nephilim's gaze. Nephilim said nothing but Shion knew, and the most terrifying horror of all revealed itself to her:

An Aeon, Gnostic _Angel_, his _wings_... The Gnosis _disintegrated_ at his _touch_. Ormus wanted him_. He was crucified and died, so that all sins could be forgiven. _Yeshua...what she had pushed to the back of her mind came flooding forward. Yeshua meant Messiah, the Savior. chaos was the Savior. _He sacrificed himself to the Zohar, and Lost Jerusalem was reborn._ The prophesy, his destiny, his fate, the secret he was keeping... chaos was the Savior. chaos was an Aeon, _the _Aeon. Ormus needed chaos. chaos had to die, and the Gnosis would be exterminated. His destiny...He would have to be murdered so that mankind could be saved.

"No!" She shrieked, a heart-wrenching scream tore from her lungs. She denied it, ignored it, willed it to go away, but it was true. The prophesy, his destiny...chaos was like the Christ, the Messiah, he had to die so that humanity could live...

—

"Nooo!" She screamed again, crying, sobbing, crawling pathetically on the hard stone floor of Heaven's Ruins. She gripped chaos's shoulders, screamed at him, pounded at his chest, ordered him to tell her it wasn't true, that it was too cruel. Animalistic sobs wracked her frame. The horror!

He knelt by her petrified, stunned. She knew. His secret was out; the secret he had tried to protect, just like his friends, just like Shion, so she wouldn't suffer. But she knew now, and all he could do was hold her, because nothing he could say would ever make it better.

—

Starlight drenched Heaven's Ruins. The majesty of the cosmos glittered around the floating castle, showering it with all the wonders the universe had to offer. Shion lay in a heap at the tower's summit. The stars above her and the crystals on the platform below her glistened in her tears. chaos sat behind her, his arms held her protectively in a warm embrace. Their fingers interlocked. She would never let him go. She would never allow him to leave, not now, not ever.

"I won't let them take you." She whispered. "I won't let them murder you." She fought back more tears. She was so sick of crying; she needed to _act _now.

"Oh, Shion." He ran his lips against her cheek, tasting her tears, "you can't change what's written in the stars."

She winced, "Is–is it really true? You're Yeshua, are you really the Messiah, the Savior?"

"I–" He paused. She spun around in his embrace, looking straight into his eyes. She gazed at him with a determined expression.

"Your hands..." she breathed, "Take your gloves off."

"Wha–"

"Take your gloves off!" She screamed, almost frantic.

He complied, surrendering his hands to her. She took his left hand and in an eager haste almost tore the glove apart, revealing his hand. Then, realizing the importance of what she was doing, she slowed down considerably. She took his right hand gingerly, treasuring it. She unstrapped his glove slowly, and delicately slid the fabric off his hand. It was so tender, almost sensual, as if she were revealing an intimate part of his body. His right glove fell to the floor. She took both of his exposed hands into hers, staring at the backs of his palms. She inhaled shakily, not knowing what to do if she saw what she feared she would see. She held her breath, and flipped his hands over.

Nothing. She exhaled deeply. She didn't really know what she had been expecting: bloody holes in the middle of his palms where nails had been driven through? chaos sensed her relief and laughed, "I'm not _literally _the Christ, Shion. I haven't been nailed to any cross."

She brought his right hand up to her face, "it's not funny." She whispered, blinking back tears. She kissed the center of his palm and ran her lips up his hand, placing tender kisses on his fingers.

"You're an angel?" She breathed against his hand.

"Well, the technical definition is 'a being formed in the highest plane of the Unus Mundus.' But I like angel better. I'm still human though..."

She held his hand against her cheek, "how human?"

"Human enough to laugh, to feel pain, to cry, to hope, to grow, and..."

"What?" Her lips trembled. She knew what the last part was _to die. _

"Look, Shion. When I left you on the Dammerung, it was because I didn't want you to get involved, with any of this. I should have never even crossed paths with you. But I reflected on it and...I feel I'd have been terribly remiss not to see you again before...my fate was sealed."

She choked on a moan, "why?"

"I needed to tell you something. I couldn't just walk away."

Her heart hammered against her chest, "chaos, no..."

"I needed to tell–" He breathed heavily, fighting with tears of his own, "needed to say...I'm human enough to love..."

She gasped.

"..You."

Undescribable emotions ripped through her, she began shaking in spite of herself, "Oh...my God..."

"I knew I'd have to come back, I needed to tell you because no matter what happens, no matter what the stars write for us in the end...it doesn't matter, because...I knew you felt the same way about me."

She nodded vigorously, still reeling from his confession and unable to speak. She didn't know if his declaration of love made her happier or if it complicated things terribly.

She wrapped her arms him, burying her face in his neck, "it won't happen." She moaned, "that prophesy, it's a load of crap!" She bristled with energy, with the same inner strength he loved about her. He lifted her face gently so he could look at her. She exhaled happily, feeling the touch of his hands for the first time. Her gaze met his. Those eyes, she couldn't take it, she _wouldn't _take it.

"chaos, just..." She grabbed him, almost forcefully, and their lips melted together in a kiss that set her heart on fire. His fate, his destiny, the prophesy, she didn't care. She didn't give a _damn_. It would not happen. Shion couldn't allow it. All she knew was that she had him close to her now, in that moment. She pulled him down to the ground with her. She made a promise to herself on that tower, drenched in starlight, in her lover's arms. For this innocent moment, for this one night, she would challenge destiny.

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Oohhh, bet you didn't expect that kind of prophesy, did you? I bet you're all shocked and amazed aren't you? No, that obvious, huh? Well, just say it to yourselves, you're all shocked and amazed!

So anyway, this is _not _the end, in case you were wondering. You think I'd just end it like that, all melodramatic and fluffy? What kind of a sap do you think I am! Fluff is for losers anyway unless there's angst or sex in it (and since this is and not we won't go there...) Expect more shock and amazement in the next chapter, while I go search for new nouns.

Copyright stuff: Nepos Rigas is an actual boss from Xenosaga Episode II. All of his italicized quotes come straight from the game. I don't own him.

I rewrote parts of this chapter a few times and I'm still not thrilled with some of it. I don't know, maybe I'm just being anal about it as usual, ergo you must review or else I'll become sad, and nobody likes a person who's anal _and _sad. I mean, could you imagine Macbeth with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? That could be me, so please, R/R!


	8. Chapter 8

Look at how quickly I'm updating! For a lazy person like me, this is nothing short of a miracle! I've said this before, but I have to say it again: My reviewers are awesome! Oh, and rdsullivan, I'm so psyched that I've motivated you to join Fanfiction, and I'm _ecstatic _and amazed that this story has inspired you to draw more Xeno pictures. I checked out your deviant account and I was like, "Oh my God! These pics are unbelievable!" Really, I literally shouted that out, scared the hell out of my cat. I can't wait to see something you based off my fic (I'm practically blushing!) Everybody who has even the slightest bit of interest in Xenosaga should really check out her artwork (the link is on her FFN profile). I'm serious. Go look at it right now—wait! First read this chapter, then leave a review (naturally) _then _go check out her deviant account. Because I kid you not, the artwork is amazing!

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**Borne Up on Angel Wings**

**Chapter Eight**

**---**

She lay peacefully on the hard stone floor. Under any other circumstances, Shion would have been unbearably uncomfortable, but just by virtue of the fact that he lay next to her, she could have been lying on a bed of embers and still felt as if she were sinking into a soft, cushiony marshmallow. And she slept, face bathed in starlight, breathing steadily. Her dreams were sweet and pure, filled with angel feathers and sparkling green pools.

And he watched her, stroked her hair, wiped her tears, but mostly just gazed at her as she slept. chaos sighed and leaned his head against the castle ramparts, his right hand resting gingerly on her head. She knew. Not that he had enjoyed keeping her in the dark, but how much would she suffer now? All of this could have been avoided, but someone had been fueling Shion's natural inclination to rebel against destiny. Nephilim, no doubt. He smiled privately inside. He knew her motives and her hopes, and thanked her for her compassion and her kindness, but...Nephilim was naive, when push came to shove. She went against ancient rules and unbreakable codes. No matter how hard she would try to bend the rules, or twist fate around, or get Shion involved...at the end of the day, chaos's destiny was what it was. If one life could save the cosmos, and ensure the survival of humanity, then that one life was negligible, the sacrifice meaningful. chaos had clung momentarily to the hope that maybe, fate would not have its way in the end, and worse, he had allowed Shion to believe that too, and the consequences had shattered her. Shattered him. For as much as he loathed Wilhelm, for as corrupted as the CEO may be, chaos knew he was right. The extermination of the Gnosis was of crucial importance. Others would rise to meet mankind's other threats, Ormus, U-DO...others like KOS-MOS. chaos's smile turned to a grin. If only Shion knew...the spark she started when she began KOS-MOS's programming. He only wished that he could see KOS-MOS awaken before...destiny took its tole.

He blinked his eyes in the starlight, and sat up against the ramparts. Careful not to wake her, he un-clipped Shion's Communicator from her belt, accessed its text feature, and began typing. There was so much left to say, so much he wished he could say, but the words appeared and vanished in his head like silvery bubbles. Why attempt to hurt her more? There were things she didn't know for a reason, and he intended to keep it that way. Besides, she had always known him as sweet but terse. Best that she would remember him that way as well. After all, if there were anything Shion truly wanted to know, he was sure Nephilim would be more than happy to shoot her mouth off in her trademark cryptic babble.

chaos keyed in his last words and returned the Communicator to its resting place at Shion's belt. He looked at her face and chuckled a bit. It was funny, how people tended to look like children when they slept. In her current state, Shion seemed to be the perfect embodiment of innocense. He smiled, brushing a few stray bangs from her face, and was suddenly surprised by a mouth-splitting, eye-closing yawn. Strange...chaos rarely slept. But the fatigue was real, and the quiet peacefulness of Heaven's Ruins coupled with Shion's calm breathing were enough to soothe even the worse cases of insomnia. He slid back down to the floor and surrendered himself to the peace.

—

"Get up."

chaos's eyes snapped open at the sound of foreign voices. Even before his eyes adjusted to the dim starlight, he knew: Wilhelm and the Testament, three cloaked figures. Red, blue, and black.

chaos was up on his feet, discharging silvery sparks from his hands even before Wilhelm could inhale after his command. He raised his fists protectively and placed himself between the Testament and Shion, although he noticed to his relief that none of them seemed at all interested in her. She continued sleeping, despite the loud voices that echoed off the tower walls.

"Come on, let's go." The red cloaked figure barked. chaos's blood chilled. Wilhelm cast an admonishing glance at the red Testament, like a teacher who was mad at one of his students for speaking out of turn.

Wilhelm returned his gaze to chaos, "It's time Yeshua."

"Not it's not," chaos hissed, "why are you here? And–hey!" His hand sparked and a silvery wave knocked the black Testament, who had ventured closer to Shion, a few feet back. "Don't you _dare_ lay a finger on her. She has nothing to do with any of you."

Wilhelm laughed, "That's rather amusing coming from you. But don't fret over her safety, she's been saturated with sedatives. She won't wake up for another five hours. Then again, that is not to discourage you from coming quickly and quietly. Time is of the essence."

chaos's face burned with rage, "I don't understand. Why are they here?" He indicated Testament with contempt. All of them chose to remain silent, however. Only Wilhelm spoke.

"I believe your privilege to ask questions has long since expired."

chaos clenched his fists defiantly, "And if I chose not to come?"

"Oh, you'll come, one way or the other. It's a matter of whether you want her mangled or not. Accept your fate now, and you have my word that we will not touch a hair on her head."

chaos said nothing.

"You don't trust my word? Have I ever broken a promise, Yeshua?"

"You've kept all the ones you made with the Devil." chaos spat bitterly.

Wilhelm chuckled, "Well, yes, I suppose that's splitting hairs though." He nodded at Shion, "so, what's your verdict? Would you like to see her ripped apart, limb from limb. I have a feeling I know just the person who would love to do that." He glanced nonchalantly at the red Testament.

chaos lowered his fists in defeat, and he knew. Realization burned him like Hellfire. Nephilim was right, so right. A gruesome, perverted, deceitful trick had been pulled, and now millions would suffer forever. chaos thought there was the hope, but that was only the facade...of horror. It was all a heart-chilling mistake, and while Wilhelm pulled the reigns, a much more sinister force was at work. chaos had been fooled. Everyone had been fooled, all but Nephilim. How could they all have been so short-sighted, how could they have failed to see that an inherently evil plot was unraveling, poised to kill humanity's freedom and hopes and dreams...Forever.

"Hit him." Wilhelm grinned coldly.

chaos wasn't sure who did it, but a crushing blow side-swiped him across the fist. A fist surging with black energy. Pure darkness. The essence of U-DO. chaos toppled to the floor and writhed in agony before his body mercifully passed out.

—

_I believe everyone has at least one skill they excel in over all others. It's something that defines who they are. Shion...what is it that defines you?_

Shion groaned and opened her eyes, then immediately shut them again because of the blinding sunlight that flooded Heaven's Ruins. She rolled over on the hard floor, and waited for the morning amnesia to subside. Where was she?...Oh yeah. And what happened yesterday?...Oh, holy cow, that was important. And what was it that she had learned about chaos and the prophecy?...Oh, right, that's why she had cried her heart out. Morning amnesia: the built in tool that prevented Shion from waking up screaming in horror.

"Hey chaos," She mumbled, groping groggily for the ramparts so that she could lift herself off the ground, "guess what I dreamed of last night? Remember when we first met on the Elsa, and you vaporized that Gnosis? Remember what you told me afterwards?"

No answer. She managed to grab onto the ramparts, half asleep, and nearly pulled herself over the edge of the tower. She opened one sleepy eye and looked down...Whoa! Five thousand foot drop into nothingness. That woke her up.

"Ah! Damn, this tower's high! Where–" She turned around and finally realized chaos wasn't there.

"chaos?" She asked tentatively. It seemed strange that he would have gone to another part of the Ruins, and even stranger that he would have left the Dive entirely, without waking her up.

Her communicator beeped.

"What the–?" She un-clipped her Communicator and shielded her eyes from the sun's glare. Its plasma screen displayed a new message:

_Shion, There are so many things I want to tell you, but I fear your communicator's hard-drive isn't big enough... I wish I could photograph you right now, because the image of you sleeping like a child would be enough for me to fall for you all over again, if I didn't already love you with every fiber of my body... Just remember, when the sorrow knocks you down, you will rise again, and you'll rise with more dignity and love than you ever thought you had... I'll always be watching over you... Don't shed any more tears on my account. You will wake up, and you will discover all the wonderful things that life still has to offer you, and the purpose of your mission will ring truer to you then than it does now. Rest assured, I won't leave before saying goodbye. Or before eating your curry one last time. Yours always, chaos._

She blinked. She read the message again, and again, and again. She giggled the second time, apparently this was chaos's stab at poetic metaphor. She spun around happily the third time; she had written, documented evidence that he loved her...heh, heh. The fourth time, a sadness so powerful gripped her that tears wouldn't do it justice. He really was leaving. On his own accord, to be...murdered. For the sake of mankind. She couldn't understand it. That kind of selflessness was lost on her, lost on everybody. Why him?...

Enough. Pity-parties were for those weak of heart, and Shion's was a heart of steel. The death of her parents, the death of her (ex?)-boyfriend, and the abandonment by her brother (although that issue seemed to have resolved itself) had forged and steeled her that way. But a strange, nagging feeling clawed at her heart. The message stated quite clearly that he would not leave until he said goodbye, so why had he left now, without giving the slightest indication of where he had gone? Something was not right. At all.

She turned to face the green insignia on the floor a few feet away from her–the Forbidden Dive device. She started for it, but something caught her eye by her feet and she knelt down. chaos's gloves...Why would he leave them here? She picked them up tenderly and slipped them onto her hands. They felt so soft on her skin, just like his touch...

She bolted to her feet and felt an overwhelming sensation of power surge through her. The Erde Kaiser, her body was capable of summoning it now. She felt almost drunk with Ether energy. Her power most have increased ten-fold. That was handy, considering she planned to hunt down chaos wherever he was, at whatever the cost, and blast those who wished to kill him back to hell. Oh yeah, and that whole chaos being murdered thing, it would be laughable if anyone thought even for a second that she'd allow that to happen. She'd allowed too many of her loved ones to perish before her eyes. There would be no more. Destiny could kiss her ass.

—

When Shion emerged from the Forbidden Encephalon Dive, the entire lab was in disarray. Desks had been turned over, computers destroyed, the transporter was smashed, and all around there were signs of a struggle. A few technicians were huddled around a fire that had broken out at the lab's U.M.N. Terminal and were trying in vain to put it out. Janet spotted Shion amidst the smoke and ashes, and came rushing towards her.

"Oh, thank goodness! Are you alright?"

Shion blinked, confused and slightly afraid, "Y-yeah. What's going on?"

"You don't know? Last night, a group of cloaked figures forced themselves into the lab and destroyed everything in their sights until they found the Forbidden Dive device. I-I told them they couldn't use it, b-because you and your friend were already in there, but somehow they managed to Dive anyway..." Janet turned around and bit her lip. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Her lab, her career, her life—all destroyed! And people had been hurt...

"Janet!" Shion grabbed the technician's shoulders and spun her around, "it's ok! Just tell me what happened."

"T-the cloaked figures, they emerged from the device with your friend. He seemed unconscious. I-I was so flustered, and everything lay either in shambles or had been set on fire, I didn't notice. I thought you had gone with them..."

An icy chill shot down Shion's spine, making her skin crawl. Cloaked figures...Testament? "Where did they go?" She asked, masking the terror in her voice.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know. They arrived by spacecraft however, and departed against our wishes. They've, they've probably left Second Miltia by now..." Janet broke down in tears.

Shion gasped. She knew where they had gone: Proto Omega. A rage burned within her that words couldn't describe. She whipped out her last paycheck and forwarded it to Janet.

"Here," she said, handing her the money, "this is so you can repair any damages done to the lab. I'm sorry I got you involved in all of this."

"Oh..." Janet's lip quivered, bowled over with emotion, "bless your heart, Shion–" But she was already gone.

—

"Jr.? Jr.!" Shion cried, yelling into her Communicator as she raced down the busy, Second Miltia street to her car, "We have an emergency! Is chaos with you on the Elsa?"

"Huh? No, why?" Jr.'s voice sounded concerned.

"Shit!" She took a deep breath, and as calmly and cooly as possible, she explained the situation, "chaos is an Aeon. He's been kidnaped by Ormus. His real name is Yeshua and he's the key figure in Nephilim's prophecy. It's all a twisted, evil plot to rid the universe of the Gnosis, open the path to Lost Jerusalem, and gain complete control of the Unus Mundus. Ormus and Testament plan to murder chaos and sacrifice him to the Zohar in order to start the whole reaction."

"What? Kill chaos!"

"Yes, it's a perverted Christian metaphor. chaos, Yeshua, is the Christ, and only on his death will we all be saved."

Jr. was thunderstruck into speechlessness. All the pieces of the puzzle suddenly came together in his mind to reveal one horrifying picture. Now he knew...

"We have to stop them!" Shion screamed, stating the blatantly obvious. "Pick me up at the Miltian Spaceport and tell Hammer to plot a course for Proto Omega, (it's a stronghold too, as well as the name of Ormus's superweapon) right away! Is the Erde Kaiser ready?"

"Yeah."

"Excellent." She turned a corner and spotted her car, "This is it Jr. The final battle is now. Ormus may be a congregation of heartless filthy bastards, but they're only human. Something much more evil and disturbing is at work here."

"U-DO?"

"Most definitely. Your journey will culminate at Proto Omega as well. What takes place there will be hard and painful for all of us, and it'll be the only chance we have of coming out victorious once and for all. Are you sure you're ready? You don't have to come–"

"Just get to the Spaceport!" Jr. cried, "And don't be stupid! That's just like you, worrying about others during your own, personal crisis. Don't even think for a second about facing off against Ormus alone."

"But, I have no right to drag you–"

"Drag us? Shion! What kind of friends would we be if we abandoned you in your greatest moment of need? Get your ass on the Elsa, and we'll save chaos together!"

—

Shion was an unseeable blur as she rocketed down the Miltian freeway to the spaceport. She became an even faster blur once she boarded the Elsa, where Tony slammed the ship's throttle and they tore across space at FTL speeds, heading straight for Proto Omega.

Shion sat quietly on the bridge, short of words and deep in thought. Just when she had found someone whom she loved in a way she didn't think possible and who filled the void that Kevin had left in a way that exceeded her wildest romantic dreams, she had lost him. Powerful emotions would soon tear their way through her, but she forced herself to remain calm now. She would unleash all of her anger, rage, contempt, and hatred on those who whole-heartedly deserved it in due time.

"You scared?"

Shion looked up, Allen took a seat next to her.

She didn't lie, "Yes, but this is something I have to do." Her heart trembled with fear but she was powerfully resolute. Her body surged with advanced Ether, capable of summoning the group's last hope.

Allen avoided her gaze, "Why endanger yourself like that?"

"Because, once Ormus is defeated, this nightmare will end. The fate of the universe rests on either our or Ormus's actions. I cannot allow them to win." She knew she sounded somewhat idealistic. Allen probably thought she was crazy. Not that she could blame him.

There was a short pause, "Shion, remember when I said that I would follow you to the deepest reaches of hell?"

She smiled, "Yes."

"Well...it's getting really, really hot."

"I know Allen. I know the hell I've put you through. This trip, this mission, this _crazy_ mission, you shouldn't have been subjected to any of it. Hell is too hot. Stop following."

He shifted uneasily.

She sighed, "I've only recently realized my mistakes, how my actions end up hurting people in the end. I should have listened to you more often in the past, Allen. I should have heeded your warnings, should have realized how concerned you really were for me. I'm afraid we're all suffering from my mistakes now."

"Shion..."

"Don't waste your time with me, Allen, I'd only drag you down further into this inferno. I'm–I'm not right for you. I don't think I'm right for anybody! You need someone calm, caring, self-assured, who stays in one place. Basically everything I'm not. I'm just a reckless mess."

He started talking, but she interrupted him, "I know," she whispered, "you tried to take my tears away, and I thank you for it...but, I fear that won't happen. I really am terribly sorry for everything I've put you through...believe me, if there's anything I could do over in my life, I'd..." But she stopped, because both of them knew the futility of her words: They were too little, too late.

—

"This is it guys. I don't want to endanger any of you." She had said once the Elsa shot into Proto Omega, but her brother interrupted her by holding up his hand and stepped up next to her. Jin would not, for the life of him, ever leave his sister's side again.

She looked at MOMO, "Listen MOMO, you've been through enough. There's no reason you should feel obligated to–"

"Forget it, Shion!" The Realien flanked Shion's other side, "those Ormus guys are the people who made daddy out to be a lunatic. They used him, and in the end, killed..." Her voice trailed off, "I'm coming with you!"

Shion looked at Ziggy, but he stared her down in a way that prevented words from leaving her lips, and he also took his place beside her and MOMO.

Shion looked at KOS-MOS, "KOS-MOS, Ormus wants you for one of their sick plans too. You should return to safety at the Dammerung with all due speed."

"Negative."

Huh? "KOS-MOS, it's extremely dangerous here. You must leave!"

"Negative."

"But–but, you can't come fight with us!"

"Negative."

"KOS-MOS!–"

"Shion, I understand that your emotional state and the trauma you have undoubtedly gone through must have affected your judgement. However, I will not allow your faulty thought processes to interfere with your safety. If I fight with you, our success rate will have the highest degree of efficacy. Seeing as that is the case, I wish to waive my responsibilities to obey your commands for the time being, for it is in your best interest for me to do so."

You couldn't win with her. You just couldn't win...Shion's vision watered slightly, "KOS-MOS, thank you."

"You are welcome. I am happy to be of service."

Shion turned a touched and grateful face to Jr., "Jr., U-DO may be here. You don't have to come–"

"Stop talking right now, before I hit you." He grinned and grabbed her arm, "Come on! Everybody knows we're all friends and we're strongest when we're together and there's nothing we can't do, blah, blah, and blah. Save the teary happiness. The E.S. Asher is ready, Miss Vector, so let's go blow some stuff up!"

"And we'll be here waiting!" Tony called from the pilot's seat.

"We won't be going anywhere." Hammer cried.

"But if anything happens to the Elsa, it's coming out of your wallet." The Captain grunted.

Despite Jr.'s command, Shion felt overcome with emotion. She would be nothing if it weren't for the people who stood by her side right now, willing to risk their lives for her sake, come what may.

—

Proto Omega. The creepiest, largest, most confusing labyrinth of a bad-guy hideout that Shion ever had the displeasure of exploring. The newly-restored E.S. Asher's engines rumbled around her as she sat in the co-pilot seat above Jr., blasting away at anything that moved. She had forced herself to stay calm up until this point, but the urgency of her mission was tearing her apart.

_Stop Testament_, _stop all the madness_, and, screaming inside her head above all her other thoughts, SAVE CHAOS! Her nerves were on edge. Was she too late? Had the murder already taken place? What exactly did Ormus plan to do to him? She couldn't think about. _Save chaos, save chaos..._ those were the only words she allowed her brain to process. Everything else made her skin crawl, her heart freeze.

"Ok, we can progress on foot now." She heard Jr. say, and she was out of the E.S. Asher like a lightning bolt, racing down the vaulted steel pathway that led to a florescent floating block, which led to the space colony's main atrium. It frightened her that she felt no fear. She had changed drastically in such a short time, from the scared, klutzy girl on the Ormus Stronghold to the fierce warrior in Heaven's Ruins. All her experiences had shaped her, molded her, forged her into the woman who stood today on the verge of the biggest confrontation in the cosmos. She meant to break an ancient prophesy, out of concern for humanity, out of hatred for Ormus, out of love...

"I am detecting an energy source of astronomical power beyond this gap." KOS-MOS stated, as the group assembled in front of the glowing block which seemed to be floating above nothingness.

"The Zohar?" Shion asked.

"Affirmative. Energy waves from the Zohar are powering the superweapon Proto Omega, which is also beyond the gap."

"It's status?" Jin asked, having some slight knowledge of Patriarch's new toy.

"Proto Omega is equipped with an Unus Mundus Network Phase Transfer Cannon. One blast from that attack contains enough power to vaporize a star. However, Patriarch himself is not beyond our abilities of defeating him."

Shion nodded, "Alright. Let's go."

Filled with resolve, she stepped onto the block, followed by her friends, and the glowing platform rocketed them towards the deadliest weapon in the cosmos.

—

Even the atrium itself was humbling. Harsh lights poured over the entire room and cast everything into an eerie, unnatural glow. Proto Omega's massive frame stood menacingly in the center of the room. The Zohar pulsated dully in its chest, like a glowing heart. Patriarch cackled evilly once his enemies arrived at his doorstep.

"I underestimated you inferior life forms. I must say, I am impressed. I honestly doubted you would ever make it this far, but then again, insignificant bugs do tend to be quite resolute."

"Where is he?" Shion screamed, marching up to the base of Proto Omega, a few feet from the Patriarch. KOS-MOS was never more than a half-yard away from Shion, everyone else encircled the two protectively.

Patriarch seemed mortally offended, "What insolence. You dare raise your voice to me?–"

"Where's Yeshua!" She spat, her voice thick with venom, "I know about your disgusting game, and it's over now!"

"How amusing." Patriarch scowled at her, "Once we fulfill our God-given right and propel humanity into a higher plane of existence, scum like you will be negligible. Your interference, while as annoying as a swarm of flies, is too late."

"Bastard!" She screamed, brandishing her M.W.S.

The Patriarch took offense and apparently lost his patience. A powerful shockwave rippled from his body and seared the air it traveled through as it propagated towards Shion. She deflected it, but with much difficulty, and the impact knocked her into her brother's arms.

"Shion, you must leave. I've detected chaos's life signals 500 yards north of our location. I will keep Patriarch engaged while you proceed north." KOS-MOS stated as her R-Dragon materialized out of her right arm.

Shion started, "You can't take on the Patriarch _and _Proto Omega alone, KOS-MOS! Be reasonable!"

"That's while we'll be fighting with her!" Jr. shouted, quickly boosting his Ether with Ziggy and casting an Aura Veil around the entire party, which absorbed most of the damage from another of Patriarch's earth-splitting attacks.

"If you do not vacate the premises immediately," KOS-MOS warned Shion as she shielded her, "I will have to resort to drastic measures."

"I–but!" Shion whipped around, stared at her friends, and realized with newly found hope that her inner strength had come from them. She would not let them down.

"Thank you." She whispered, and charged past Patriarch. He attempted to attack her, but KOS-MOS and Ziggy unleashed their Cross Fist which immobilized him, allowing Shion ample time to sprint through Proto Omega's legs and disappear down the atrium. She knew that if something happened to her friends now she would never be able to live with herself. Once she rescued chaos (if he wasn't already dead...NO! She refused to believe that) she'd waltz back into the atrium and would find no greater pleasure than to thrust her Lunar Blade through the Patriarch's cold, unloving heart.

—

She was a shining blur of energy, a living wonder of what enhanced Ether and a determination of steel could do to. She unleashed her newly acquired Erde Storm and Erde Quake, and tore through legions of Ormus soldiers and A.M.W.S. units. She was everywhere at the same time, her special attacks ripping holes through her opposition. She was untouchable, incredible, invincible. She barely flinched when she deflected an A.M.W.S. Ether bomb, hardly noticed when her Gravity Well ripped apart an E.S. Only one thought rang through her mind, _save chaos_. And she prayed against hope that she wasn't too late. Nothing would delay her any further. KOS-MOS would never have allowed Shion to venture off on her own unless she too detected a profound increase in Shion's fighting abilities. The space colony actually rocked from the sheer power of her attacks.

She ripped apart one last door with a charge from her M.W.S., and emerged into...deep space. Or so she thought. She stood on a wide, enormous steel disk that must have stretched half a mile in diameter. The sleek metal circle Shion stood on had no walls or ceiling. It was apparently kept oxygenated by a force field and air-lock technologies, or else Shion would be having difficulty breathing right about now. She ran towards the center of the disk. A dark red carpet stretched from the door she had just destroyed to the disk's center, forming the circles radius. Black candles flanked the carpet, lighting an eerie path, and the pungent scent of incense slammed into Shion's nose like a brick.

She ran down the carpet at an inhuman speed. Black lights flashed around her in a blur, casting long, ghost-like shadows around her. She arrived at the circle's center at break-neck speed. The heart of the circle was slightly elevated, forming a small hill, like a temple. Her vision adjusted to what stood atop the hill, and she unleashed a blood-chilling scream, recoiling in horror. There was chaos...crucified.

She bounded up the hill's stairs, candles flashing mockingly at her, and for a moment couldn't proceed any further, too terrified to look at chaos. He had been stripped of all clothing, save a scraggily white cloth that had been wrapped unceremoniously around his waist, sparing him some dignity. His head was bowed. White locks fell untidily over his face, masking his expression. In accordance with the gruesome Christian metaphor, a thorny crown had been forced onto his head, digging into his skull and dying his usually snowy white hair red with blood. Shion took a few steps forward and covered her mouth, horror-stricken as she gazed upon the cruelest of all cruelties. His arms and legs had been tied to the cross with barbed wire. Sharp metal thorns bit into the soft flesh of his wrists and his ankles. Blood trickled down his outstretched arms, forming crimson rivulets across his chest. His upper body lay slumped slightly forward, away from the cross, causing the thorns at his wrists to rip and tear at his skin.

"chaos!" She wailed and collapsed at his bloody feet. Who would do this to him? This, this macabre, bloody, disturbing horror. No one deserved this! Least of all chaos! She got up on her knees and ran her hands through his blood-soaked hair, gingerly removing his crown. She didn't want to uncover his face, but she knew she had to. She brushed away his hair and revealed a face twisted and contorted in agony. She listened and found to her relief that he was still breathing, although his breaths were long, shaky, and pained, as if a boulder were crushing his chest.

"No! No, no, no, no..." She mumbled, hot tears streamed down her face, and she returned her attention to his feet. She had no idea how to free him from his bondage. The barbed wire was practically welded to his skin! There was no way to break the steel wire unless she physically ripped it apart.

"I won't let them do this to you!" She sobbed, and, suddenly overtaken with an unstoppable passion, she gripped the thorny wire around his feet and pulled with all her might. She howled in pain. Even though the gloves she wore protected her fingers from major cuts, the pain was unbearable. It was more than metal spikes ripping through her flesh, it felt as a deadly venom were surging through her fingers. This was no ordinary barbed wire. The screaming pain she felt in her fingers was a mere fraction of the excruciating torture chaos was going through.

"You won't die, chaos!" She shouted against the pain, almost as a command.

- - - -

What the heck was wrong with KOS-MOS? Leaving Shion and Allen stranded in a life pod among the ruins of the destroyed Woglinde like that. Allen was positively freaking out, not without reason, since she had threatened to open the life pod's hatch and expose them to deep space. Damn it! Why was KOS-MOS acting on her own, refusing to rescue them? Wasn't that her Goddamned prime directive?

"Wahhhhhhhh! She's really gonna do it!" Allen screamed as Shion released the safety hatch, and the life pod's alarm started blaring. God, why wouldn't he just shut up and be useful for a change? KOS-MOS was about to high-tail it out of there without them! He could at least say, "hey, KOS-MOS, WTF?'

"Why not help her? Sounds like she means it."

Huh? Shion heard a voice she didn't recognize on her pod's radio. Oh, thank goodness! Someone on that freighter ship—Elsa was it?—was finally making some sense!

A few minutes later, she emerged from her life pod onto the Elsa's bridge. She would rewire KOS-MOS chip by chip if she had too. Man was she furious! But she couldn't be rude now. Some gratitude towards the people who had just saved her life seemed necessary.

She proceeded to thank the Captain of the Elsa...this man was the Captain? Oh dear, maybe she was better off on the life pod.

"You ought to save your thanks for chaos over there." The Captain told her "We were just gonna leave you and fly on out of here."

"Oh…I see…" How reassuring. The Captain must be a real life-saver during an emergency.

She turned to face said chaos. Hello! Now there's a sight for sore eyes. What an interesting boy! (By interesting she meant mysterious/adorable/sexy and the like, but the situation prevented her from acting out on her thoughts.)

She reached out and held his hand, "Thank you…chaos."

"No, don't mention it. After all, we all need a little help sometimes."

She had never heard a statement so pure and true like that in her life. He seemed so kind...

- - - -

Heh, heh, it wasn't very lady-like to gloat, but Shion had to admit, she cooked a mean curry. The Elsa's crew were stuffing their faces in just about the most disgusting way she thought possible. Especially the Captain. Oh well, as long as she felt useful.

"You do quite a lot." chaos told her.

She smiled, he didn't know the half of it! "Really? This is pretty typical for me back home. I have my no-good brother to thank for that. He doesn't do a thing all day except sit around and

read books." Ok, maybe now he knew half of it.

"Heh. Well…there's no one on this ship that has any of your skills."

Was that a compliment? That sounded suspiciously like veiled flirting too. Nah, he didn't seem to be at all like Tony. chaos's statements were genuine. How sweet!

- - - -

No, this wasn't possible! Commander Cherenkov! Was he...She couldn't stop the tears.

"Shion..." She heard chaos's voice. It was calming and reassuring, but still...

"chaos!" She grabbed his hand, "What just happened? Where is he? What

have we done! Tell me…" Her head fell to his knee. She cried softly. chaos comforted her, but the sad expression on his face betrayed him. Was it true?

"Was that really the Commander! Tell me, chaos! Surely we didn't…" No, she refused to believe it...murder! She did not murder anybody!

chaos placed his hands gently on her shoulders, quieting her sobs, "Shion… The truth isn't always a pleasant thing to know."

- - - -

"No kidding!" Shion groaned in pain as memories of the first time she and chaos met flooded her. She had met someone so special...She would not lose him!

"Ah!" The barbed wire gave way and she wrenched it apart. chaos's bare feet dangled freely, no longer bound to the cross. She dropped the wire instantly, and sighed in relief as the throbbing pain in her fingers subsided. She had no idea how she had been able to tear the steel apart with her bare hands. At the moment, she didn't really care.

"Gah..." chaos sighed. She shot up to her feet. He seemed relieved that the torturous, venomous shackles had been removed from his ankles, but his face was still clenched in agony. She doubted he could even think straight at the moment. She doubted he even knew she was there with him.

"chaos, sweatheart! Don't give in! Fight the poison!" She braced herself again for torture, and wrapped her fingers around the barbed wire that fastened chaos's left hand to the cross. Pain ripped through her hands, but she refused to submit to it. She pulled at the thorns that bit into chaos's wrist.

- - - -

Oh my God! chaos wanted to spend the night! Jin seemed happy enough, but Shion was over the moon. She didn't really know why though. If she hadn't been so pissed at her brother, she might have enjoyed chaos's company a bit more. Either way, the morning after, she would make sure she made herself look presentable...Even if it meant intentionally waking herself up at 5:30 in the morning to start on her hair and pick out her outfit. Was that normal?

"Sorry to keep you." She almost sang the next morning, as she emerged from her house looking like last year's Miss Miltia. The expression on chaos's face was worth the early morning wake up.

"You look like a different person when you're not in uniform." He said, staring quite intently at her.

"Oh? Does it look bad on me?" And watch how Shion shamelessly fishes for compliments!

"Oh, not at all. You look great." His cheeks blushed ever so slightly.

"Thanks." She gushed. Why was his opinion so important to her? She gasped inwardly, was she falling for him? Bull! She had only made herself look stunning because she wanted to...Right? The fact that he was blushing wasn't the reason her heart was racing...Right?

- - - -

Let's see, if Shion had made her wildest prediction of everything that could have possibly gone wrong on the Ormus Stronghold, that prediction was coming true. And yet, as chaos's angel wings (since when did boys have angel wings?) protected her from Cathedral's ruthless attack, she felt un upsurge of emotion and was almost magically drawn to his eyes.

"I'm your Savior." He whispered, and her heart flipped. His hold on her was kind and gentle, and as they rocketed out of the stronghold. Even as scared and nervous as she was, she felt warm waves of peace wash over her. His touch was so soothing...

- - - -

"The way you talk about me, you make me sound like a hero."

"You are."

His words made her pulse quicken. She was speechless! His gaze was so powerful, so intense, and the gorgeous sunlight that poured into the cabin only accentuated his features, which made her knees go weak. He kissed her, and her soul soared. She knew she wasn't dreaming, because none of her wildest dreams ever came close to what she felt right now. Her heart erupted with hot, passionate love...But why? How could she fall so hard for someone?

- - - -

Now she knew. As she pulled in agony at the poisonous wire, she knew. The experiences they had shared, the trauma she and chaos had gone through had brought them closer than fifty years together would have done. Her brother had told her that painful, powerful experiences fostered love between two individuals more than anything else. Now she understood, because the love she felt for chaos was unlike anything she had ever felt before. This wasn't the 'oh my god I love you so much that all I want to do is hug you and kiss you and revel in your beauty and screw you all night' kind of love that she had felt for Kevin: the 'love' she was so jaded by and cynical of. What she felt for chaos was deeper, more profound, the, 'I care for you so much that my needs are secondary to yours, that I will be selfless for your sake, that I would sacrifice everything to make you happy, and that I'd lay down my life for you' kind of love.

_Snap! _She split the barbed wire in two, and chaos's left hand was freed from bondage. No longer tied to the cross, his body fell forward, fastened to the cross only by his right wrist. She caught him and prevented him from falling to the ground (which would have ripped his bonded hand from his arm) and allowed his head to rest on her shoulder.

The pain in her fingers was excruciating, and it took longer for it to subside the second time. But she was almost done. Only one more wire to go... chaos lay panting against her body. His breathing, though still labored, had improved a great deal. The venom that had been surging in his own veins must have also subsided once she began freeing him.

She looked at his face, which was no longer twisted in agony. His eyes were clenched shut, that was the only sign that he was still in a great deal of pain. She caressed his cheek. She knew! She knew why she loved him! It wasn't lovesick infatuation, it wasn't a tidal wave of lust, it was care in its purest form. The trauma had brought them together, but now it threatened to rip them apart. She inhaled and grabbed the last wire, crying out in agony as her fingers begged for her to retract them from the sharp thorns, but she pulled at the venomous wire anyway, infused with a new zeal.

"chaos," she whispered in his ear, "I love you."

That wasn't the first time she said those words, but it was the first time she truly meant them. And she knew she wasn't lying, because the words resonated within her soul.

"Aahh!" With one last scream she wrenched the steel wire apart and flung the venomous thing away. chaos collapsed off the cross, and she caught him as the two fell in a heap at the floor. She waited in agony for what seemed to be an eternity, but the poison in her fingers finally did subside entirely.

"Shion..." chaos mumbled. He had heard her. She scrambled up to her knees, overjoyed that he had come out of his pain-induced trance, and immediately blasted his body with advanced healing Ether. He could feel her energy as she channeled Ether into him, healing his wounds, warding off the poison.

"Same here." He groaned, and his eyes fluttered open. A small smile spread over his exhausted face.

She looked at him tenderly, trying her best not to break down completely. She was too overwhelmed with emotion to speak. Blinking back tears of joy, she cradled his head and began to shower his face with soft kisses. She hadn't been too late. He was alright!"

"That's quite enough." An icy voice chilled the air around him. chaos was up on his feet in the blink of an eye, pulling Shion up with him in a protective embrace.

Shion stared terrified. All three Testament were there and...Wilhelm? She gazed at her CEO in shock. He didn't look at all happy. To his left stood the black testament. His cloak was badly singed by fire. He must have had a confrontation with Ziggy... Her gaze moved to the blue Testament, who removed his hood.

"Lieutenant Virgil?" Shion gasped, dumbstruck. That wasn't possible! She had seen KOS-MOS shoot Virgil on the Woglinde! He had died!...

Wilhelm took a step towards the hill chaos and Shion were standing on, "Oh, Shion. I tried to keep you uninvolved. If only Yeshua wouldn't have been so stubborn...But then again, it looks like you're also as stubborn as he was. I fear I have underestimated you one too many times." He gazed at the broken, thorny wires that Shion had ripped apart with her bare hands, "That's unbelievably impressive." He smirked, "those wires were infused with the essence of U-DO—darkness from the deepest reaches of hell. It must have been torture for you to rip those things apart." He sighed, "You would have been such a fantastic asset as Director of First R&D, but now your involvement has become a bit of a problem.

She gazed in shock at her CEO as realized that he played a part in Ormus's evil plan. How could that be? Wilhelm? He had saved her life! Was he really?...She saw chaos glare at Wilhelm with contempt. She'd never seen chaos so mad before.

She wanted to question Wilhelm and demand some answers, but at that moment, the red Testament pulled back his hood and revealed the most horrifying truth of all:

"KEVIN?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Oh my God, I've been waiting for _months_ to pull that cliffhanger on you! Muahahahahah! What now? Shocked and amazed yet? Be afraid, be very afraid, because the plot is going to get so twisted that I'm going to have to rename the title Borne Up on Giant Pretzel. Wow, that was horrible. I tend to be funnier when I get some sleep and when I don't stay up until the wee hours of the morning writing.

IMPORTANT Copyright stuff: The quotes during the flashback scenes (cleverly designatedby theseparateddashes) were taken directly from the script of Xenosaga Episode I and Xenosaga Episode II. The quotes aren't mine. I am disclaiming them, so please don't sue me. With the exception of the last two flashbacks, which came from chapter one and three of this story, so now I get to sue myself.

Ok, you've waited long enough, the next chapter will be the final battle. I promise. I've been waiting to drop the Kevin bomb for a really long time, so your reviews would make me very, very, very happy. R/R!


	9. Chapter 9

Another update? After two days? Incredible! Due to this wonderful speediness, no one is allowed to read this chapter unless you've already reviewed the last one. Nah, I'm just messing, but I really would appreciate any comments you guys have. This chapter is the climax of the story. I hope I didn't fall short of anybody's expectations.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

**Borne Up on Angel Wings**

**Chapter Nine**

**- - -**

Shion stood in a paralyzed shock, too scared to leave chaos's warm embrace. Kevin...It wasn't possible! She had seen him die on her lap! The gruesome images and sounds of his death—the blood gushing out of his abdomen, his shrieks of pain—they had haunted her dreams, had clawed at her heart for two painful years, and yet...there he was. A Testament! She had been dumbstruck so many times since she discovered KOS-MOS was an Aeon, and had steeled herself accordingly, but nothing, absolutely nothing could have prepared her for this. Words could not describe the look of stupefied horror on her face.

"Kevin..." She breathed again, staring at her ex-boyfriend but refusing to believe her eyes, "But...how?..."

"Shion," Kevin smiled, "It's been so long...but, we don't have to suffer anymore! We can finally be together again!"

The words seemed to slap her brain around, mocking her, "Wh-Wh, but–I–I don't understand. You died!" She cried out.

"It's alright Shion. You'll understand soon enough." He gazed at her with all the tenderness in the world. The wait was over. After two long years, she finally stood before him, "With the help of Wilhelm and Testament, I have achieved immortality!"

She grappled mentally with the words, trying to extract some meaning. The incident two years ago flashed before her again. Just before Kevin died, as he lay bleeding in her arms, he had said, "Don't worry. This is what's supposed to happen. This is what we wanted, Shion." She never understood what he had meant, thinking he had been delusional, but now...

"So..." She gasped blinking away the fog of shock that made her reel, "the incident two years ago...You wanted that to happen?"

He smiled warmly at her, "I understand your fears and your incomprehension, Shion. It's normal. Let me try to explain, after my death, I was resurrected with overwhelming power. I paid a small price, but now I am immortal!" He bit his lip, seeing the utterly baffled look on her face. He knew all of this must be impossible for her to digest at once, but still, he had waited so long for this, and was starting to get impatient. He advanced towards the hill she and chaos stood on, holding out his had, "Shion, darling, come on. Come with me. Let's be together again!...Forever!"

She had mourned his loss for two painful years, but at that moment felt no attraction to him at all. She did not move, and gripped chaos's bare chest instead, "But Kevin..." She whispered, "all those people..." He had willed the incident? Why! And how was he immortal? Her mind screamed. She hated being in the dark; she was sick of it! "And...and Wilhelm!" She returned her gaze to her CEO, "Who are—how could—I demand some answers!" She shouted angrily.

Wilhelm held out his hands in acceptance, "As you wish. I suppose a resolve such as yours should be rewarded. You will die shortly anyhow."

She felt chaos's embrace tighten around her, "Who are you?" She asked shakily, "And whose side are you on?"

Wilhelm chuckled, "Side? I don't think I'm on anybody's side. I only wish that the Gnosis to be exterminated, that the path to Lost Jerusalem be revealed, and that a gateway to open to the heart of the Unus Mundus. That Ormus shares my wishes is only coincidental."

"Liar." chaos spat, "You've practically _led _Ormus. The Patriarch himself is answerable to you! You've spear-headed this entire plot!"

Shion trembled in his arms, "Is that true?" She asked.

"Yes." Wilhelm replied coldly.

She felt a white-hot dagger of betrayal slice through her, "And Harold?" She whimpered.

Wilhelm scoffed, "He was a mistake from the very beginning. A mere inconvenience, who failed miserably at the orders given to him."

"Which were?"

"To awaken KOS-MOS and get you out of the picture. He failed pathetically on both counts."

A tear rolled down her cheek. The dagger twisted in her back. She had trusted Wilhelm, "And the interception during my Dive on the Dammerung? Who interfered with the Encephalon?"

"I did. The Gnosis simulation was my doing. Don't feel as if I set out to deceive you, Shion. I had no intention of hurting you. I wanted to wake Yeshua up to the danger he posed on you. My interception had the desired effect...For a while."

Wilhelm had attacked her! The horror she had gone through in the Encephalon—being trapped in the Dive, losing connection with Myuki, and lying in agony as a venomous Gnosis ripped up her insides—that was Wilhelm's fault? She reeled in confusion but seethed with rage, "But, when Ormus attacked the Dammerung...You saved me!"

Wilhelm smirked, "Of course I did, but I also ordered Ormus to initiate the attack. Do you seriously think Ormus would have been able to infiltrate the Dammerung, which is equipped with the Rhine Maiden, if I hadn't practically given them the firing coordinates and told them where and how to attack my headquarters? The purpose of the infiltration was to dispose of Miss Itsumi, who knew too much for her own well-being. That plan failed. My other motive was to scare you away from the Dammerung—and away from KOS-MOS—once and for all. That also failed, quite miserably. After such a pathetic string of failures, even a simian would have changed his tactics, lest I start to look suspicious. I re-hired and promoted you—which actually worked out nicely in the end, because your are vital to KOS-MOS's awakening—and I hoped to sway you away from Yeshua for good, but once again, my plan backfired. I must say, Shion, I'm impressed with your resilience. I never dreamed I'd find you here."

Her blood boiled with red-hot rage. So Wilhelm was the culprit. He was the deceiving mastermind behind Ormus and U-TIC. He was responsible for the incident fourteen years ago—the death of her parents. He was responsible KOS-MOS's malfunction, for Shion's hell in the Encephalon, for Kevin's death (or so she thought). But what made Shion's frame shake with fury was the Wilhelm had willed more than anyone for chaos to die.

"And Testament?" She growled, breathing slowly to keep herself calm, "Who are they? And how are they immortal?"

"They've been infused with U-DO." chaos answered her, never once slackening his hold on her, "At their deaths they traded their souls to U-DO for immortality. They're just like Albedo...Soulless shells devoid of feeling that perform U-DO's bidding."

She blinked, confusion and unrelenting rage ripping through her. Were they expecting her to believe the impossible? "Traded their souls...for immortality? Is that even possible?"

Kevin approached her. Of course she would be confused! As long as he explained calmly, everything would be alright, "Shion, anything is possible with U-DO and the Zohar! I've waited so long for you...You could join us too! Wouldn't it be wonderful? The two of us together again? Just surrender yourself to U-DO, and the He will pay you back ten-fold!"

She shook her head vigorously, finding the strength to challenge the madness, "No! What you've been doing is terrible, Kevin, Wilhelm, all of you! Old Miltia, my parents, Ariadne, attempting to murder chaos...For what! What end could possibly justify your unspeakably horrible means?"

Wilhelm smiled, "It is difficult to comprehend the infinite power of the Unus Mundus, Shion. The Unus Mundus links all humans' consciousness, pulsating deep within humanity's very thoughts and emotions; It also governs all the laws of our universe, from the tiny tryst of the atoms to the carousel of the planets and stars. Now, just imagine if I gained control of the Unus Mundus—the absolute manifest—I would be able to probe deep into the hearts, minds, desires, thoughts, hopes, dreams, and fears of every individual in the cosmos! I would have the power to mold all of humanity's thoughts to my liking. I would gain total and absolute control of mankind. Indeed, I would become God!"

"That's...that's awful!" Shion exclaimed, almost too shocked to speak. "Probing into peoples' hopes and dreams, controlling them?...But what about their freedom!–"

"It will be surrendered to me. By having complete control of their minds, I will sweep humanity into a higher plane of existence, where their only thought, their only desire," He smirked, a fearful gleam in his eye, "will be to adore me."

"WHAT!" Shion's outburst startled even the most stoic of the Testaments, "You're mad! You're a raving lunatic! Can't you see what U-DO has done to you? You can't enslave humanity, you egocentric, self-centered, asshole! Once our free thoughts die, mankind will collapse!"

"Oh?" Wilhelm eyed her questioningly, "You are far too idealistic and naive, Shion. What universe do we live in?—full of pain, sadness, tragedy, death. What kind of horrors does mankind go through on a daily basis? Wouldn't it be a noble thing to end humanity's suffering, even if it meant taking away their free will? Wouldn't it be the _right _thing to do?"

"No!" She scowled, "Not if it means the enslavement of mankind, and certainly not if innocent people have been murdered to achieve your means!"

Wilhelm sighed, "I see you are just as naive as your brother."

She gaped at him, "You know Jin?"

He laughed, "Once I gain control of the absolute manifest, I'll know everybody. I'll be _inside_ of everybody once the path to Lost Jerusalem is revealed, but first, Yeshua must die. The two events are connected. It is an unfortunate sacrifice, but in light of the good that it will produce, his loss is acceptable."

"NO!" She screamed, "chaos is not—" She hugged him so tightly she could hear his heartbeat, "chaos is not an acceptable loss!"

"Touching." The black Testament spat.

"Quiet Voyager!" Wilhelm scowled, suddenly losing his patience, "Shion, I am done dealing with you. Yeshua will die whether you accept his fate or not, and if you continue to interfere–"

"Don't be mad at her, Wilhelm!" Kevin interrupted, trying to calm his boss, "You can't expect her to understand our vision of a perfect universe immediately." He brandished his sword and motioned for Shion to come to him, "Come on Shion," he pleaded, "All you have to do is surrender your soul to U-DO. I'll kill you so fast that you won't even feel it! And then...Immortality!"

Shion didn't budge. She stood transfixed, horrified. How deeply had these people been poisoned by U-DO? They were frightfully insane...

"Darling, it's only me." Kevin pleaded, "Your Kevin!"

She shook her head, "No. Your not Kevin," she whispered, "My Kevin died two years ago. You are a monster!"

One of the Testament was about to make a move but a blood-curdling scream reverberated around Proto Omega and petrified all those standing on the metal disk. Vibrations shook the ground beneath Shion's feet which soon turned to quaking tremors. An explosion of light erupted from within the stronghold, pouring out into deep space.

"Patriarch." Wilhelm grunted, shaking his head, "Poor fool. Nothing but a useless, power-hungry figure-head."

"You should talk!" chaos seethed.

Wilhelm prepared a retort, but another explosion rocked the stronghold. Shion peered behind the Testaments down the red carpet that led to the metal disk's entrance. The atrium leading to the metal circle exploded in an eruption of fire and sparks. She spotted five figures burst from the crumbling rumble, hurtling through space towards the center of the circle.

"We're coming Shion!" Jr.'s voice rang out against the wall-less, uncovered disk. He and KOS-MOS sailed through the air and landed with a slam between Shion and Testament. All three Testament, including Wilhelm, appeared to have shamefully wet their pants.

"R-Dragon!"

"Last Symphony!"

Waves of energy and bullets plowed with earth-shattering force into the Testament, sending them hurtling away from Shion and chaos. MOMO, Ziggy, and Jin landed on the circle's hill shortly afterwards, unleashing their own powerful attacks upon the surprised and very disgruntled Testament, who tumbled away from the hill in a battered heap.

Shion gazed in delight at her friends as they ran towards her. All of them looked like they had been dragged through hell and back, but had emerged victorious. "Oh my God!" She cried, "Are you guys alright?"

MOMO grinned proudly, brushing ashes off her skirt "No problem, Shion! My Ether's still strong and as long as I can heal, all of us are fine!"

"Yep," Jr. grinned, putting his arm around her, "with her on our side, there's no way we can lose!"

Ziggy nodded, "The outcome of our engagement with Patriarch was decided even before the battle began."

Jin stared cooly at Shion, "Hey, I changed your diapers when you were a baby. Defeating Patriarch was no harder."

"The enemy has been successfully exterminated. I have overestimated Proto Omega's threat. However, my external mainframe has been damaged, reducing my appearance by 15 percent. Shion, I need to be cleaned." KOS-MOS informed her.

Shion gulped back tears, "Oh, KOS-MOS, when we get out of this mess I'll have you enrolled into a beauty spa!" She and chaos flung themselves into the awaiting arms of their friends, overjoyed that their resolve was crushing the enemy threat.

"chaos!" MOMO gasped, once she spotted chaos half-naked and blood-stained with scars on his wrists and ankles, "what have they done to you?"

Jin followed MOMO's gaze to chaos's scarred wrists, then to the cross behind him, then to the blood stains in his hair. "chaos...Did they...did they crucify you?" His expression was indignant and horrified.

"It's alright." chaos smiled, holding Shion's hand, "I'm fine now, thanks to Shion."

"Well..." She blushed sheepishly, "I kind of owed you a few. Besides," She looked up at him sweetly, "Everybody needs a little help sometimes."

"Shion," KOS-MOS began, as she stared at the pile of Testaments now sprawled on the floor, "My aggressive neural processor has failed to calibrate. Requesting enemy database update."

"Certainly," Shion scowled at Wilhelm, "He's Wilhelm, the President of Vector, but also the mastermind responsible for your malfunction two years ago, the attack on the Dammerung, Febronia's suffering, and the plot to murder chaos." She gazed contemptuously at the monster who looked like Kevin, "_That _is Kevin Winnicot, your former creator. He wishes to kill me. All the members of the Testament have been infected with U-DO and are hell-bent on crucifying chaos, with the goal of enslaving humanity. They are our prime enemies."

"Understood." KOS-MOS nodded.

"Shion..." Kevin looked deeply hurt, but his expression changed instantly once he got up and gazed at KOS-MOS for the first time since she killed him. "KOS-MOS!" He admired her in awe...There she was...Fully operational! "Oh my gosh...You're more beautiful that I ever could have imagined!" He made to step up to her, but she pointed her R-Cannon at him.

"KOS-MOS..." Kevin looked crestfallen, "What's wrong?"

"You have threatened Shion and have brought about unnecessary and unacceptable physical anguish to her and her companions. Call off your attacks immediately, or I you will leave me no choice but to use all necessary force to stop you."

Kevin looked shocked, "KOS-MOS? Is your Operating System malfunctioning?"

KOS-MOS actually grinned, "Perhaps."

Shion almost laughed out loud. Was the android being sarcastic?

"That is unfortunate, KOS-MOS." Wilhelm scowled menacingly at her. He picked himself off the floor, and with the subtlest motion of his hand, ordered the Testaments to attack. All three cloaked figures lunged for chaos.

KOS-MOS's machine-gun was out in a flash, searing the air with bullets, but the Testaments seemed unfazed and they continued to advance. "Get back!" She shouted.

Voyager lunged for MOMO. She screamed as a glowing black fist knocked her to the floor.

"MOMO!" Jr. shouted and joined KOS-MOS in ripping bullet holes through the Testaments.

"Voyager!" Ziggy screamed with an eerie passion, almost demonically, and broiled the air with a flaming kick, advancing towards Voyager, but Lieutenant Virgil shocked Ziggy with dark energy waves, stopping him in his tracks. Ziggy shrieked and fell to the floor, Virgil's boot crushing his face.

"Ziggy! MOMO!" Shion cried, watching terrorized as her enemies incapacitated two of her friends.

KOS-MOS continued to brandish her heavy artillery, protectively shielding chaos's and Shion's bodies, who had to keep on backing away from the ensuing battle. Shion spotted her brother locked in a sword fight with her former boyfriend.

"I never liked you..." Jin grunted, swinging his sword. Kevin parried the blow, ducked under another sword swipe which almost removed his ear, and unleashed a dark missile that plunged through Jin's chest.

"Arrgh!"Jin staggered, dropped to his knees, and finally collapsed face first onto the hard, metallic floor.

"Jin!" Shion wailed, gripping chaos's shoulder, "What–what was that?"

"Essence of U-DO!" Jr. howled above the roaring sound of his and KOS-MOS's guns, which continued to rip the air with bullets, "It pierces through your very soul!"

"Very good, Rubedo." Wilhelm smirked, walking up to Jr.. Bullets bounced harmlessly off Wilhelm's chest. "It hurts, doesn't it?" He grabbed Jr.'s face and blasted him with a concentrated essence of U-DO, tearing nasty gashes across his face.

"Aaah!" Jr. recoiled back in agony, falling to the floor and screaming in pain.

"Heh, your exhausted friends are dropping like flies." Wilhelm chuckled, leering at Shion.

"Shion, it appears the Testaments are impervious to physical attacks." KOS-MOS shouted, retracting her gun and shielding chaos and Shion protectively with her arm.

"You're right." chaos told her, "They're brimming with the essence of U-DO. Only Aura Ether can hurt them."

"Then I suggest you and Shion heal the others right away while I reconfigure my Weapons Systems to operate under the Aura attribute."

Virgil lunged at her, but she kept them at bay with a wide sweeping arc of her R-Blade, "The situation is dire. If these conditions persist–"

She was cut off. Kevin ambushed her from behind, "Obey me!" He screamed hysterically, swinging his sword furiously as KOS-MOS flipped over him and parried his attacks, "I am your creator, OBEY ME!" His face was red with rage, which blended eerily with his cloak.

Shion brandished her M.W.S., startled. She spun around, not knowing who to attack first. All the Testaments seemed to be locked in combat with her friends, making short work of them.

"Ahh!" She felt a harsh shove and tumbled off the hill, landing in a heap on the floor. chaos had pushed her. Why? She scrambled to her feet and found the answer. Wilhelm had attempted to pounce on her, and was now trading punches with chaos. She stared dumbstruck. Wilhelm's body glowed unnaturally, giving off a dark, frightful aura. Black wings erupted from his back, and his red eyes burned with a fiery hatred. chaos unfurled his own pure, white wings, and the two shot up into the air, whirling and swooping like falcons. Dark blasts from Wilhelm's enraged fists met chaos's silvery waves, and ear-splitting explosions heated the air above Shion's head as an angel and a devil locked themselves in battle, unleashed all the powers of heaven and hell on each other.

She watched terrorized. Ziggy lay unconscious on the floor, as did Jin. MOMO screamed and wailed against Voyager's tight grip, pounding his back with her fists to no avail. Jr. lay sprawled on the floor writhing in agony. KOS-MOS spun, dipped, stabbed, and slashed the air, deflecting Kevin's blows and jabbing at him with her blade, just like she did frightfully two years ago, except this time Shion wasn't horrified. And chaos! He fought viciously, ripping into Wilhelm's defenses with bursts of Ethereal light and angel feathers; however he too cried out in pain as dark energy orbs surged against his frame, as hellfire singed his hair...

"Enough!" She screamed. This was awful! All her friends, clobbered and shrieking, writhing and bleeding; she couldn't take it! No more sacrifices! No more bloody confrontations! Mankind was supposed to be at peace with itself! Wars amongst men were a thing of the ancient past, and watching her brother lie bleeding on the cold floor, it made her stomach turn. Despite Shion's shock and fear, she got a hold of herself and managed to channel her Ether, shakily muttering her incantations.

"Er–Erde–Erde Kais—Ahh!" She failed to summon as the ground rumbled and rippled with a powerful earthquake, knocking her and everybody who wasn't flying into the air. The stronghold shuddered and screeched with the sound of splintering metal, and the atrium which linked the floating disk she now lay sprawled on to the stronghold finally exploded and smoldered. Proto Omega emerged from the smoke, Patriarch cackling evilly on its shoulder.

"Fools!" He bellowed, "You dare think you can defeat me? Watch in horror, and fall before the might of Proto Omega!"

MOMO screamed. "Mystic powers, grant me a miracle...Aura Blast!" She fired a charge of Aura Ether into Voyager's chest, who snarled and tossed her angrily off his shoulder. Shooting a blast from her Ether bow into his face, MOMO wheeled around and bolted towards Shion as Voyager held his bloodied eyes with rage. Her sensors knew what Proto Omega was about to do, and it terrified her...

"Shion!" KOS-MOS yelled, knocking Kevin senseless with a skull-crushing blow from her R-Hammer, sending him hurtling into chaos's cross, "Proto Omega is preparing to fire its U.M.N. Phase Transfer Cannon! There is a 100 percent chance you will all die unless we shield ourselves immediately!"

Above her, Wilhelm cartwheeled through the air, dodged a silvery spear from an Angel Blow, and blasted chaos's chest with dark, sinister waves. chaos staggered back in the air, howled in pain, and teetered downwards as Wilhelm's elbow hit the back of his neck, sending him hurtling to the ground.

"Go ahead Patriarch!" Wilhelm screamed, unleashing more black charges at chaos's already weak frame, tearing gashes across his back, arms, and legs, "Kill them all!"

Proto Omega began glowing menacingly, pulsating with the Zohar's power. The Patriarch laughed coldly, and Proto Omega erupted with a blinding orange light. MOMO knew she had less then five seconds. She ran to chaos, who was sprawled in agony on the ground, fell to her knees, and grabbed his bloodied hand. He understood.

"BLESSED MIRACLE!"

Shion barely had time to realize that chaos and MOMO had preformed a double tech, because a hot, searing, orange beam ripped through her soul like a knife. She screamed, falling to the ground, and met oblivion. Her blood dried up inside her veins, her bones shattered, her skin peeled away and melted into nothingness as her nerves fried mercifully, sparing her the feeling of pain. She felt the horrifying sensation of her brain dissolving; she attempted to cry out in pain but her vocal chords had long since disintegrated. Death pushed at the edges of her soul, and suddenly, she was floating. Her spirit hovered above her body like a ghost, and she saw in disgust as all that was left of her—her skeleton—slowly burning up in the torturous, orange hell of the Phase Transfer Cannon.

Then, all was quiet. The hellish light receded, and a disquieting peace settled over the floating steel disk. Shion spotted Jr.'s and Jin's spirits, floating in a stupefied terror above their incinerated bodies, which were nothing more than ash. Shion noticed that her body too, was a steaming heap of ash. Then, without warning, more light bathed the enormous disk, but a calmer, more Ethereal light, which propagated out of MOMO's and chaos's spirits, and shined into the piles of ashes on the ground, breathing form and life back into them. Shion's body materialized beneath her, and she felt a magnetic pull as her spirit was sucked back into it. The Blessed Miracle. It had saved them all from death, but that was about it.

She moaned groggily in pain, managed to pull herself to her feet, and looked around. Her heart sank. MOMO and chaos, who had saved everybody's life, lay quietly on the ground, in the shadow of his cross. He seemed conscious, but was bleeding badly from open wounds all over his body. His wings were losing feathers, and they stuck sickly to his bloodied frame. MOMO did not move.

"No..." Shion sobbed softly. MOMO had saved them; she had known what was coming. Was she?...

Shion whirled around and stared at Ziggy and Jin, who had absorbed the brunt of the cannon, since they were the closest to Proto Omega. Ziggy was alive, but he lay twitching on the floor. His robotic parts sparked and surged with electricity unnaturally. Her brother breathed, but he was unconscious. She looked to her left, at Jr., who was closest to her. He was alive, hunched forward on all fours...vomiting blood. Shion gazed at her own body and realized that she wasn't in much better condition either. Painful red burns lay in blotches all across the left side of her body. A particularly nasty burn on her left leg had charred her skin black, and left a bloody socket as skin peeled away. She fought the urge to vomit. She knew in her heart that there was no way any of them could recover from this attack...Let alone win the battle.

"Sh–Sh–Shion..."

Shion's head snapped to KOS-MOS, who had called her. KOS-MOS's voice worried her. It was...pained, almost pleading. The android wavered and fell to her knees. Her arms twitched slightly.

"Re-requesting recovery..."

Kevin laughed. None of the Testament had been harmed, "That's right." He scowled, holding KOS-MOS at sword-point, the tip of his blade inches from her nose, "Bow down to me. I am your master."

Shion covered her mouth in shock. Hot tears stung her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. How...how could this happen? All her friends, they had given their lives to fight alongside her because they believed in her mission. They believed t what she was doing was right. Now...She had let them down, led them to this condition: wounded and dying without dignity. This realization pained her more than the hottest burn on her body.

"Shion!" Jr. gasped, sensing her hopelessness, "Don't give up! We must fight, until the bitter end!"

She gazed at Jr. He lifted himself from the ground, coughing up blood, shaking from weakness, but he pointed his guns in front of him none the less. "I don't know about you," He began, a fearful look in his eye as he staggered towards her, "but I didn't come all the way over here just to die. We–we have to make things right. For our sake, for chaos's sake, for humanity's sake! I-I will not let it be said that mankind was enslaved because," he glared at Wilhelm and Patriarch, "because my closest friends were slaughtered by you heartless bastards!"

Shion nodded. He was right, God was he right. Resolve surged through her again, and her blood boiled with rage. Maybe this was the end, but she would not go down without a fight. She had been deceived, betrayed, hurt beyond words. Wilhelm and Kevin and the Patriarch and all those other assholes would have to learn that if they crossed Shion Uzuki, and if they dared harm her friends—her parents, the real Kevin, Myuki, her brother, Ziggy, MOMO, Jr., KOS-MOS, and chaos—they better be prepared to have their asses kicked so bad that they'll be begging for the devil to take them to hell, away from her.

She pointed her M.W.S. at Patriarch, in tune with Jr.'s cross-hairs, "You'll be sorry!" She howled, "Have fun rotting in hell!"

"**ARCHANGEL'S REQUIEM!" **

Feathery lasers erupted from the stars above them, and showered down on the unsuspecting Testaments below. The double tech was at its maximum power, fueled by Shion's and Jr.'s rage. White hot lasers tore across the Testament, singing their cloaks, burning their skin, setting fire to their hair. And their were millions of them—millions of lasers battered the disk. chaos's cross exploded in a giant fireball, the disk's metal surface rumbled and groaned as white beams of light bored holes into it. Shion's and Jr.'s attack materialized in full force above the Patriarch. Two enormous angelic wings glowed above him. Both Shion and Jr. fired electric charges and bullets at the wings, which brightened, intensified, and finally burst in an eruption of white-hot light, raining oblivion onto the Patriarch. His body shimmered, imploded, and vaporized, his dying screams echoing up into the unforgiving stars.

"Good riddance." Jr. spat, falling to his knees. Shion nodded in agreement, supporting him. She suddenly felt renewed strength blossom within her. Patriarch, the ruthless, sanctimonious heartless creep, was no more.

"Impressive." Wilhelm snorted, swooping down and landing with a frightening thud inches away from Shion. His monstrous face was ripped and scarred by the Requiem's lasers. "But that is quite enough." He grabbed her roughly, holding her in a vice grip with his right arm locked around her neck.

"Shion!" Jr. cried, but Wilhelm silenced him with a black energy wave, and he took off with Shion screaming and kicking in his arms. He landed in front of KOS-MOS. Kevin stepped respectfully away, watching with an excited giddiness as his boss held his ex-girlfriend in a straggling deadlock.

"How about it, Yeshua?" Wilhelm called out mockingly, "Don't you want to save your sweetheart?"

chaos staggered up to his feet, blood running down his sides. He marched towards Wilhelm with a vengeful rage but wavered and fell back to his knees a few feet behind KOS-MOS, too weak to stand.

Wilhelm laughed coldly, "I thought so. This will be very interesting though, I assure you. Before I kill you, Yeshua, I thought I'd treat you to the most horrifying phenomenon this universe has ever seen!" He grabbed Shion's right arm with his free hand and yanked her sleeve up to her shoulder.

She shivered in terror, thinking for a minute that he was about to rape her. If she had known what Wilhelm was really about to do to her, she would have preferred sexual violation.

Whatever he planned to do to her, KOS-MOS did not look pleased, and she bolted to her feet.

"Oh?" Wilhelm asked nonchalantly, "I thought you needed recovery?"

"I am running on emergency power." KOS-MOS stated, almost angrily, "If you harm Shion in any way, I will terminate your existence."

He howled with laughter, "You know, I am very pleased to hear that, because the next moments will be exhilarating!" He grinned evilly, and ran his lips and tongue hungrily down Shion's exposed arm. She stared in a ghastly shock as the skin on her arm that met his lips dissolved, melted, bubbled, and finally mutated into the skin of a monster...the skin of a Gnosis.

"It's amazing," Wilhelm whispered coldly in her ear, "what happens to individuals when thy come into contact with Gnosis. Most people solidify and turn white, later shattering into nonexistence. But others..." He flicked his tongue playfully against her ear; she shook with a terrified horror. "Others react differently. Their bodies start to disfigure and mutate, and eventually...They become Gnosis themselves!"

Shion unleashed a blood-chilling scream, terrified beyond words. She felt the Gnosified skin creep up her arm and spread through her body like a virus. The feeling was petrifying, excruciatingly painful, as if something were killing her slowly from the inside, destroying her soul. A fear like she had never felt before gripped her heart, and she howled in pain, pleading for mercy, begging for the process to stop as most of her upper body was now melting and mutating into the gruesome chest of a Golem.

What pained her the most though, were chaos's loud, screaming sobs, "You bastard!" He cried out as tears racked his frame, "You evil, disgusting bastard! How could you? HOW COULD YOU!"

KOS-MOS stood stark still. She did not move. She did not speak. Her head started to twitch uncontrollably, just like it did two years ago...during the incident.

Wilhelm cackled evilly, "Do you know what's happening to her, Shion? Listen! This is the best part! KOS-MOS has two prime directives: Protect all Vector employees and Exterminate all Gnosis. Her entire Operating System is based on those directives. But what happens when a Vector employee turns into a Gnosis? Does she protect, or exterminate? We have a paradox! Her brain has not been programmed to deal with the situation. She has no idea what to do, so you know what happens?" He laughed evilly as KOS-MOS's movements became more and more erratic, "Her brain goes haywire! Her logical and emotivity drives shut down, and her aggressive neural processor kicks at full power. She begins to slaughter everything in sight. Just like two years ago! Isn't that a fitting end for you, Shion? Watching your friends being murdered by your creation, and then finally being killed yourself by it?" He howled with cold laughter that sent chills down her spine.

"NO!" chaos shrieked, trying to get up, but felt strangely paralyzed.

"U-DO!" Jr. screamed, "He's here! We're all gonna, we're all gonna..."

"Come on KOS-MOS!" Wilhelm shouted with glee, holding the quickly gnosifying Shion in front of her, "preform your prime directive! Exterminate the Gnosis!"

KOS-MOS twitched, convulsed, and suddenly stopped. She eyed Shion with a peculiar expression, and suddenly, she knew what to do.

"_Lasey Uotai Etah_."

chaos had to shield his eyes. An earth-splitting, air-searing, ethereal blast of the purest, whitest light he had ever seen erupted from KOS-MOS's body. White light engulfed the entire disk, blasting the Testaments and knocking over Proto Omega, who fell to the ground with a deafening crash. KOS-MOS emerged from the light, her hair flowing freely in an unfelt breeze, and chaos noticed a pair of pale blue, shimmering wings, the same color as her hair, erupt from her back.

Shion saw KOS-MOS's transformation too, as she fought the gnosifying poison that clawed at her brain. KOS-MOS glared angrily at Wilhelm, and Shion realized in awe that her once red eyes were now glowing in the most beautiful blue she had ever seen. There was something heavenly about them.

KOS-MOS advanced towards her, "Get your hands off of her, Wilhelm!"

Gone! KOS-MOS's robotic, monotone voice was gone, and was instead replaced with the sweet, human inflection of the purest voice Shion had ever heard.

"Oh my God!" Jr. gasped, awestruck, "KOS-MOS...she's awakened!"

Wilhelm looked deeply troubled but he remained calm, "Well, I certainly didn't expect that to happen."

"R-Blade!" A sword materialized out of thin air into KOS-MOS's hands. Not an extended appendage of her arm, but rather a real sword that she held in what looked like a frightfully human hand. She slammed the sword into the metal ground and sent a roaring fissure towards Wilhelm. The ground split and erupted with white light, burning Wilhelm and causing him such anguish he was forced to release the gnosifying Shion, who hit the ground hard and rolled through a crack in the ground.

"Self-righteous bitch!" Wilhelm screamed, holding his face in agony, nursing the burns caused by KOS-MOS's ethereal light, "You know very well what chaos's fate is! Why are you trying to stop me? I am not evil! What you're doing isn't right, it isn't good!"

"Well, Wilhelm, Shion has taught me well," KOS-MOS smiled, "The most important thing I've learned from her since she has begun caring for me," she said, firing another ethereal blast at Wilhelm, "Is that what's done out of love is beyond good and evil!"

With that, she shot up into the air, spread her wings, and took off after Shion, who was floating away in deep space. KOS-MOS caught her creator and flew her back to the safety of the disk. Once Shion's gnosifyed skin met KOS-MOS's warm touch, it crumbled and melted away, revealing Shion's own, human flesh underneath.

"KOS-MOS..." Shion breathed, as KOS-MOS set her down gently next to Jr., radiating warm light unto both of them, healing their wounds, giving them strength, "You're...you're..."

"I am happy to be of service." KOS-MOS smiled warmly. Shion realized in that instant how beautiful she truly was.

"Stay here," KOS-MOS told Shion, after she set her down, "Jr., protect her. There are friends to be healed, and enemies to be disposed of." Her voice was so different, but so reassuring, like a sweet song of hope. She took off into the air again, and showered the disk with healing light. Jin, Ziggy, and MOMO got up to their feet, their wounds gone, and they stared in awe at KOS-MOS, who had awakened the angel within.

Finally, KOS-MOS alighted near chaos, and touched his face sweetly, smiling warmly at him. chaos gazed up at her in stupefied awe, an expression of love and tenderness written all over his face. He smiled in sheer joy as KOS-MOS took his hand and lifted him gently into the air, her own angel feathers fluttering onto him, healing his wounds, fading the scars around his wrists and ankles, and cleaning the blood stains, leaving chaos in a smiling, radiant glow as he happily hugged KOS-MOS. He looked utterly overjoyed, as if he had never seen her before.

Shion hated herself for it, but an unwanted pang of jealousy ripped through her heart, "chaos and KOS-MOS...Are they...do they?"

Jr. laughed, "KOS-MOS is an Aeon, an angel, in case that hasn't dawned on you yet. She and chaos hail from the same plane of existence. They were born from the same source, so you could say they're our equivalent of siblings."

"Oh..." Shion smiled, suddenly very happy. There was something beautiful about it, chaos waiting for Lord knows how long for his sister to awaken. And now she was here.

The two angels floated high above the disk, holding hands, and unleashed a barrage of white feathery light. All three Testaments were flung yards away from where they stood, and Wilhelm shrieked and howled in agony as heavenly blasts tore through his body. KOS-MOS glared at him in contempt.

"You have endangered the lives of thousands and caused great pain and anguish to the people I've protected!" She shouted, "What you hope to achieve is horrid and perverted, no good will come from the death of humanity's freedom! In light of everything you have done, of all the people that have died at your hands, worlds destroyed, civilizations lost, how can you possibly justify your actions?"

Wilhelm scowled, "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you. Proto Omega!" He screamed, as the enormous weapon that pulsated with the Zohar's power righted itself and got to its feet, "Destroy them. Fire your U.M.N. Phase Transfer Cannon, full power!"

"I fear," chaos told him, as Proto Omega charged its cannon, "that your reign of cruelty is finally over." He flew gracefully over to Proto Omega, extending his hand towards KOS-MOS, "Ready KOS-MOS?"

She nodded and took his hand. He spun her in the air, and both their wings shot out to their full-fledged wingspan, glowing with heavenly light. Proto Omega emitted a fearful orange glow.

"It's over!" chaos shouted, his wings shining, light radiating out of his body, he winded KOS-MOS like a top:

"**GRAND RONDE!" **

She spun away from him at a supernatural speed, wings fully extended, feathers whirling about her. Her speed increased and she became a spinning blue-white blur. The ground tore beneath her, air sizzled above her, and angel feathers flew out of her wings and spun around her as she became a vicious feathery cyclone, spinning like a supersonic top towards Proto Omega, infused with angelic power. She ripped through the weapons body like a drill, feathers whirling furiously, light erupting from her frame. A feathery tornado engulfed Proto Omega, and the weapon exploded. Smoldering embers flew everywhere, and the gigantic disk, groaning from one earthquake too many, split in two and began drifting away from the stronghold.

"Inconceivable!" Kevin shouted angrily, watching as KOS-MOS stopped spinning, but her cyclone continued, picking up robot parts, angel feathers, and whipping up fire as it hurtled towards Ormus's last stronghold where it too shuddered and finally exploded under the power of her attack.

"Holy...Crap..." Jr. uttered in awe, staring at KOS-MOS with his mouth hanging open, but a shimmering object above her wrenched his attention away from her. "The Zohar!" He shouted, pointing, "look!"

Indeed, the Zohar, which had been nestled in Proto Omega's heart, now flew away at a frightening speed into the disk's force field, puncturing a hole in the airlock and hurtling out towards deep space.

"No!" Wilhelm shrieked, "don't let it get away!" He channeled his Ether energy, glowing with rage, and summoned a monstrous white E.S., the same one that had saved Shion's life on the Dammerung.

"Shit." She spat, running with the others towards chaos and KOS-MOS, who had alighted on the circle's hill, as the other parts of the disks crumbled and floated away. "Just when you think you've beaten that stupid bastard, he pulls another one of his toys out of his ass!"

"This entire platform is going to crumble!" KOS-MOS shouted, "air is already seeping through holes in the airlock! We don't have much time left, we've got to get out of here!"

"Well, the Elsa should be here soon," Jr. cried, "I mean, Tony's dense but I think he noticed something is up when the stronghold exploded."

Shion was about to formulate a plan, but something grabbed her attention. KOS-MOS began glowing...brightly...very brightly. Soon she shimmered so much Shion had to shield her eyes.

"KOS-MOS?" Shion asked, "Are you alright?–"

"Abel's Arc!" Wilhelm cried, clambering into his E.S., "it's here!"

All heads snapped up as an enormous dark object completely blotched out the starry view of the universe.

"That's a Gnosis!" MOMO shouted terrified, "but it's so huge! Its size is immeasurable!"

Shion knew why, and she was about to tell them, but at that moment searing white flames erupted out of KOS-MOS's abdomen and blazed upwards with white-hot intensity, forming a fiery path into the bowels of Abel's Arc. Flames tore a hole in the Gnosis's chest, rocketing outwards, enlarging the hole and revealing, like a picture slowly coming into focus, a pale blue planet in the distance.

"LOST JERUSALEM!" Shion screamed, "The path! The prophecy! _Once KOS-MOS awakens, the path to Lost Jerusalem will open_!"

Even the Testaments forgot they were supposed to be fighting and joined the others as they looked up in awe at the cradle of human life, humanity's origin...where it all began. The starry sky became bigger and bigger as KOS-MOS's white flames ripped apart Abel's Arc. She was created to exterminate the Gnosis...Was this her ultimate purpose?

The disk rumbled and it seemed as if they were hurtling through space, speeding closer and closer to Lost Jerusalem. A white moon flashed past them, and became a small sphere in the sky in the blink of an eye. Shion reasoned the disk must be traveling in some airless wind-tunnel on KOS-MOS's fiery path to Lost Jerusalem, nudging the speed of light.

"Earth..." KOS-MOS breathed in wonder as the planet's full majesty appeared in full beneath them.

"Finally!" Wilhelm breathed, his voice now loud and terrifying as it boomed out of his E.S., "The Unus Mundus will be mine! The key lies within Lost Jerusalem!"

"Get down!" chaos shouted and dove for Shion, shielding her with his wings. Wilhelm's E.S. pounded a sword into the disk, which finally uttered one last shriek of splintering steel and disintegrated. Shion, her friends, the Testament, and Wilhelm's E.S. all hurtled uncontrollably into deep space, flung by the force of Wilhelm's attack. They were so close to Lost Jerusalem now that the planet stretched across Shion's entire field of vision. They were no longer traveling on KOS-MOS's path, now they were simply being pulled towards the planet by the force of gravity.

"We're going to be incinerated in the atmosphere!" She screamed, as the sound waves of her voice traveled on the wispy, thin air of Lost Jerusalem's last atmospheric layer.

"You will!" Wilhelm cried from the safety of his E.S., brandishing a sizzling energy cannon, "but I won't!" He fired a searing white blast from his cannon, aiming with demonic accuracy for Shion.

"No!" chaos cried and shielded her. The energy blast ripped across his back and his body sizzled with sinister electricity.

"chaos!" She cried, watching in fear as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he plummeted, dropping like a dead weight towards the planet, his wings no longer able to hold him aloft.

"Damn it!" She cried, herself cartwheeling helplessly through the air. The world around her turned from black to blue as she, her friends, and her enemies hurtled through Lost Jerusalem's cerulean sky. She felt a painful heat begin to burn her body. How much longer before they all burned up?

"AAHH!" She hit something hard and metallic with bone-shattering force, and for a while lay in a paralyzed daze. Her friends hit the same thing she fell on too, also shouting out in yelps of pain as they slammed into the metal. Unfortunately, her enemies landed on whatever it was too.

"The Elsa!" Jr. cried.

Shion sat up, rubbing the painful bruise on her rear caused by her sudden collision, and looked around. Sure enough, she had landed on the Elsa's hull. Tony had indeed noticed something wasn't right and had managed to steer his ship below them, preventing a long and painful incineration towards the planet's surface. Her mind reeled at how hard it must have been to pilot the Elsa through KOS-MOS's fiery path, but she figured Tony knew what he was talking about when he said he was the best pilot in the universe.

Wilhelm's E.S. interrupted her thoughts as it landed with a sickening crash onto the Elsa's hull, denting the spacecraft's flawless surface.

"You goddamned bastard!" She heard Mathews say, his voice carried out into the air on the Elsa's radio waves, "that hull cost me money! You're gonna pay for that!"

"I have half a mind to incinerate this ship myself!" Wilhelm scowled and once again charged his energy cannon. KOS-MOS swooped up into the air and battered his E.S. in a flash, whirling through the air and unleashing deadly special attacks and angelic firepower upon him. The others attempted to help her, but she shook her head impatiently, "attack the Testament!" She shouted, searing the air with her R-Cannon (once again, a regular cannon, not an appendage of her arm). Soon another bloody battle raged on the Elsa's hull, and Shion realized in shock that chaos was not with them. She bolted for the edge of the ship and peered down into the blue, cloudy sky. She spotted a small, tan, winged figure plummeting downwards, about to disappear behind a cloud barrier.

"chaos!" She shouted, and before she knew what she was doing, she leapt off the Elsa, shooting towards the ground, three miles beneath her.

"Shion! What the hell are..." But Jr.'s voice was lost as she tumbled away from the Elsa, losing herself in an immensely blue sky.

As she rocketed down at an unknown speed, she tried to distract herself with the exhilarating feel of the wind of an ancient world roaring past her ears, whipping at her hair and clothes, so that she didn't realize _holy shit, I just jumped off the freaking Elsa! I'm hurtling towards the planet's surface very, very quickly, and if I don't burn up in the atmosphere, I'll splat like a melon on the earth below. What the hell am I supposed to do now?_ She didn't want the sensation of vertigo to scare the crap out of her. But once she saw chaos again, hurtling headfirst towards the earth, she knew what she had to do. Shion streamlined her body, diving headfirst in the air, and dropped like a rock towards chaos, the wind a deafening roar in her ears. She extended her hands out in front of her as she plummeted towards him, the hands that were covered in chaos's gloves, and she realized they were glowing with the same Ethereal light that shimmered around chaos and KOS-MOS. The wind tore at her clothes, whipped painfully across her face, but she fell closer and closer to chaos. She stretched out her arms as far as she could...just a little closer...

"Gotcha!" She cried, her voice unhearable in the howling wind. She managed to grab his arm and eventually pulled him into a tight embrace. He was still unconscious. Both of them plummeted to the earth at a speed that terrified her.

"Help..." She whispered, her hands glowed more brightly now. Feathers from chaos's wings fluttered up past her face, caught up in the powerful gust created by their spiraling descent towards earth. "No..." She muttered, "We won't die...We can't! But, I need...I need a miracle!..." Suddenly, she felt it. An incredible power reverberating around her soul, filling her with hope...filling her with faith. She felt a bit of the power that surged through chaos, that allowed him to fly, that made him an angel. For a brief moment, she glimpsed the humbling vastness of the Unus Mundus. The key...What Wilhelm wanted so badly—access to the absolute manifest—was now revealing itself to Shion. Responding to her plea. A feeling of renewed hope surged through her, as she plummeted through the air that had given life to her ancestors, tens of thousands of years ago. And despite her sorrow, her pain, her cynicism, her lack of faith, she felt it. For one brief moment she felt the undeniable presence of something she could only call God, something that fueled chaos and KOS-MOS with their power, and whatever It was, whatever Its motives were, It listened to Shion's heartfelt prayer.

"Please..." She prayed, "Grant me a fragment of thy power..."

She cried out softly as a sharp pain ripped through her shoulder blades. She held tightly onto chaos, afraid of what might happen. Without warning, her body shimmered with angelic power and the absolute manifest echoed inside of her. Golden wings erupted from her back, shining with the intensity of the sun. She gasped in awe, watching golden feathers flutter out before her, landing on chaos. They glowed softly on his body, and restored him to consciousness.

Shion...An angel? But how was it possible? She wasn't an Aeon. She didn't even know how to fly! Nonetheless, she flapped her wings once, hard. Their spiraling descent slowed, the wind's roar dying down in her ears. She flapped her wings again, lighting up the clouds in a golden glow, and they slowed some more. She flapped again, and again, and again, and soon they floated aloft amongst the clouds. She gaped stupefied at herself. She had accomplished the impossible. She had conquered gravity...among other things.

"Shion?" chaos muttered. She turned to look at him, his green eyes gazing at her in wonder, shining in the glow of her wings.

"Er...hi." She said, not quite sure what to say. "Guess what, I can fly!"

He smiled, "So I see. I thought there was something special about you." He laughed, "Just when I thought you couldn't be any more amazing."

She giggled and looked down, "Hey, look!" She cried and pointed below her. They spotted the Zohar, a tiny yellow speck below them, hurtling through the sky. She hadn't realized how far they had fallen. The earth was clearly in view now. A dry, deserted landscape stretched out below them, interrupted by a large lake. The Zohar tumbled through the air, a fiery comet trailing behind it, and crashed with a gigantic splash into the lake, sending rather large tidal waves out in all directions.

"What are we looking at?" She asked in wonder, slowly realizing she was staring at Lost Jerusalem. _The _Lost Jerusalem, mankind had been born here. She was looking at the beginning of everything. _Everything!_

"Hmm," chaos studied the landscape for a moment, "Africa. I believe we're floating—well, you're floating anyway—somewhere over Kenya. That's Lake Turkana."

Shion looked at him in shock, "Turkana? Isn't that where they excavated the Zohar, many, many years ago?"

He nodded, "Yeah...How fitting that it has returned there. Do you think it's coincidence?"

Shion shrugged, "Maybe, but a pair of golden wings just grew out of my shoulder blades, so at this point I'll believe anything." She paused, "Are you alright?" He was looking at her stangely.

"Actually, I don't think I've ever felt better. Your healing powers, that's no ordinary Ether. Something happened to you..."

"You mean besides the wings?"

"Yeah, I can't place it, but there's this energy about you, you seem...fearfully strong."

"Really? I'm not exactly sure what happened. We were falling, and—of course we were falling—and all of a sudden, I felt this presence, like a deeper part of reality...It's difficult to explain, and it seemed like it was willing to grant me anything, but all I cared or thought about was saving you...so..."

chaos gazed at her, suddenly overtaken with love. He kissed her softly, "The absolute manifest." He murmured softly, "it responds to those pure of heart. Wilhelm was a fool..." He brushed his lips against hers again, "Your resolve saw us through, Shion...again. You saved me. You saved mankind. Wilhelm's plans have been foiled, KOS-MOS will soon eradicate U-DO entirely. And I..." He grinned, "...don't think I'll ever leave your side again!"

She blushed, "Yeah, well. Just you wait..." With a powerful stroke of her wings, they shot up into the air. "Let's see just how foiled that evil bastard's plans can get!"

—

"Shion..." Jin gazed in shock at the edge of the Elsa. Had she gone mad? Most probably, maybe the fighting was too much for her. But still...She was so strong, so brave. Why would she commit suicide?

"Jin, look out!" MOMO shouted.

He whipped around not a moment too soon, and dodged Kevin's whirring blade. Damn it. Even after KOS-MOS's awakening, they weren't gaining the upper hand in battle. Wilhelm's E.S. was vicious, unlike anything they had ever fought before, and KOS-MOS was having serious trouble with it. Plus...with Shion and chaos out of the picture, the tables had turned in Wilhelm's favor.

"Time to die!" Kevin sneered evilly. He knocked Jin to the ground with a horrid blast of the essence of U-DO, and prepared to plunge his sword into Jin's chest.

"Ah!" Kevin staggered back, momentarily blinded. Something shot up into the air and glowed with the dazzling intensity of a white hot sun, shining brightly onto the Elsa. He squinted in the blinding light, and saw a female figure silhouetted against the light of her wings. She had been holding chaos, and now he rocketed towards Kevin on his own wings, unleashing a powerful Lunar Seal that knocked the red Testament off his feet and thirty yards away, almost flinging him off the Elsa.

"Shion?" Jr. gazed stupefied, as his eyes adjusted to the blinding light. She floated above the Elsa...on golden angel wings. What the hell?

"Damn you!" Wilhelm shrieked, spotting Shion, "The absolute manifest, why would it answer to you?"

"Because you," Shion scowled, "Are a power-hungry bastard with a very dirty agenda. Plus you're being controlled by U-DO, who, in this crazy religious metaphor, is Satan. I don't think God likes him much..."

"Bitch." Wilhelm spat, "And who might you be then, Shion?"

"I..." She grinned, showing her full, dazzling wingspan, "am about to kick your ass."

She shot towards him, Ether bursting out of her every pore:

"Erde Kaiser...**FURY!**"

The robot materialized, tall and menacing, brimming with power, brandishing a sword, which ripped through Wilhelm's E.S. as if it were made of paper. The Erde Kaiser slammed his massive fist into Voyager, sending him hurtling off the Elsa, burning up in the atmosphere. The Erde Kaiser vaporized Virgil, who turned into a steaming pile of ashes, and blew away in the wind. Finally, the Erde Kaiser's sword, charged with lightning, unleashed a devastating attack which sparked and surged and hurtled towards the E.S., it shimmered, buckled, caught fire, and finally...Explosions seared the air above them like fireworks. It was done. Shion had won. Her parents, Old Miltia, Ariadne, all those who had lost their lives to Wilhelm and U-DO had been avenged. She had broken the prophecy and saved chaos's life. Even though there had been a lot of pain and bloodshed, Shion Uzuki had accomplished the impossible.

She toppled out of the sky, exhausted, reeling from Ether drain, her golden wings disappearing. She hit the Elsa's hull in a worn-out heap, hoping that she had indeed won, because there was no way she would be able to fight anymore. All her energies had been spent, all her resources exhausted. But judging by the looks on her friends' awed faces, she figured the nightmare was finally over. Except for one...

"It ends now." Kevin sneered as he lurked behind her. She whipped around, attempting to dodge his sword, but it was too late. His cold, darkened blade shimmering with the essence of U-DO sliced through her abdomen, cold, unflinching, painful. She gaged, staggered, the agony so ferocious she couldn't even scream. Her vision blurred, she fell over on her back. This wound was not like the others. She felt the cold hands of death grip at her heart. She knew, it was unescapable now. No miracle could save her.

"Bastard!"

She saw a blast of Ethereal white light, and Kevin was no more. chaos swooped down beside her, and grabbed her purposefully.

"Release your pain unto me."

She didn't bother to question him. She just wanted the torture to stop. Warm light danced on her abdomen and her wound disappeared, the blood receding back into her. But...how? She had felt it...this wound could not be healed, how had chaos cured her?

And the, she understood why. The light floated off her body and slammed into chaos's, ripping his own stomach open, transferring her wound to him.

"No!" She screamed realizing what he had done, but his body began to glow, and she was bathed in a blinding silver light. The light propagated outwards, removing the Testaments' evil, healing her friends' wounds, purging Wilhelm of U-DO. The sky, the Elsa, chaos's face, everything disappeared in a bright blast of silvery light. Her world blacked out, and she fainted.

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I stayed up 'til five writing this, and I have this sickening feeling that I wrote it terribly. Oh well, I guess I'll fix it when I'm not sleep deprived. The next chapter will be the last. R/R...


	10. Chapter 10

Wow...The last chapter. I can't believe it. Well, I hope you enjoy...

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**Borne Up on Angel Wings **

**Chapter 10**

**---**

The fog swirled and billowed in her mind. No! She had to fight it! Death would not make a fool of her yet. Not in spite of what she went through, but because of it!

Her eyelids fluttered, paused for a moment, as if unsure what to do next, and finally lifted to reveal two weary, tired eyes. Shion woke up in a stupefied daze in the infirmary at Vector's offices on Second Miltia, but she didn't know that. She had a hard time remembering her own name.

"Uh..." She gave a noncommital groan, acknowledging to the world that even in such a weakened condition, death could proceed to kiss her ass.

"Shion!"

"Chief!"

Familiar voices belonging to familiar faces rushed over to her beside. She blinked. The tall one was Allen, the annoying one was Myuki. She hadn't exhibited any traits of being annoying just yet, but somehow Shion knew.

"Are you alright?" Myuki asked, kneeling gently besides Shion.

"Y–yes." She lied, and managed with great difficulty to sit up in her bed. She felt as if sludge had caked around her brain, causing an unpleasant state of amnesia. "What happened?" She mumbled.

"Proto Omega!" Allen began excitedly, no wait, he was the annoying one, she remembered, "You destroyed it! You and KOS-MOS and everyone else! You guys were unbelievable! I...I can't believe it!"

Myuki nodded in agreement. Shion fought the sludge in her brain and racked her memory for any sort of recollection she had about...anything. "Myuki," she moaned, "I thought you were in critical condition. "

"I was, Shion!" She nodded excitedly again, "But then, all of a sudden I felt this–this," She seemed to be grappling for the right words, "This bright light. It was beautiful–a shimmering silver–and then...I felt perfect. It was the most amazing thing. The doctors were floored. I told them about the light but obviously they didn't believe a word of what I said (who would, right?) And they said they had never seen such a fast recovery before in their lives. I didn't want to tell you before, Shion, because I didn't want you to feel guilty, but I was told that after the attack on the Dammerung I would never be able to walk again. But now..." She got up and twirled happily so that Shion could see, "I'm in better health than I was before I got attacked!"

"Myuki...That's fantastic." Shion smiled, "I'm so happy." _Silver light? _A bit of the sludge dislodged, and she managed to grab hold of an errant memory.

"KOS-MOS!" She exclaimed, "How is she?"

Allen smiled excitedly, "You'll never believe this Shion, but—the whole Development Team is in hysterics—she's totally different now...Human!"

Was he drinking again? "Well..." Shion began, "She is a _human_oid Anti-Gnosis weapon—"

"No, I mean really! I ran some tests on her mainframe before. All her processors are inactive!" He almost squealed.

Shion's brow furrowed, "What does that mean?"

"It means they've been replaced with flesh and blood!"

More sludge receded. _KOS-MOS's awakening...Lost Jerusalem..._

"Oh my God!" Shion shouted, bolting up in bed, "I remember we were falling...falling towards Lost Jerusalem..."

Allen gasped, "So it wasn't an illusion? It really exists! The entire Federation is going nuts now because a new Star System appeared in the third quadrant of the galaxy...Do you think it's Lost Jerusalem's Solar System? Is the Executive Committee..."

Shion wasn't listening. The fog in her head was clearing quickly, and memories came flooding back to her, like water bursting from a dam...

"CHAOS!" She screamed, getting to her feet but collapsing instantly as her legs refused to support her. Allen and Myuki lunged forward to catch her.

"Whoa! Where do you think you're going?" Myuki grunted, helping Shion back into her bed, "The nurse said you shouldn't even be talking! Let alone trying to stand!"

Since when did Myuki listen to people? "Where's chaos?" Shion asked again, her mind clearing frightfully quickly, sharp and shining like crystal. She remembered Kevin's hellish attack, the agony that tore across her abdomen, and how chaos had absorbed her wound, saving her life.

"He's at the Second Miltian Hospital." Allen told her calmly, "The others are there with him...I chose to stay here with you..."

Shion suddenly felt insanely guilty and extremely uncomfortable, "Allen—"

"No, Shion, listen." _He called her Shion? _"I know I've made things kind of awkward between us. In the past I haven't been very good at expressing my feelings, so I'm going to change that now: I don't want to lose the greatest colleague and the best friend I ever had. I love you Shion, and for the longest time I thought my feelings for you were romantic, but I discovered, after one battle to many, that I cared for you in a more brotherly way. I masked my genuine concern for you with fabricated infatuation—because our friendship meant so much to me, and if it fell through I could pretend it was because you didn't share my romantic feelings, but they were never really there in the first place. So...I guess what I'm trying to say (not very well) is that I just want things to be back to normal. You and me, best buddies at work, cutting corners when the Director isn't looking...That sort of thing."

Shion smiled. He never had been very good at expressing himself, but that was part of who he was, "I'd like that too Allen. Our friendship means a lot to me." She sat up and hugged him, motioning for Myuki to come too.

"Are you crying Myuki?" She asked at the sounds of stifled sobs.

"This is just so sweet!" She sniffed, "Allen, promise Shion you'll never have a falling-out with her again—or with me—and that you'll always support us in when we're in need."

"Uh...but—" He mumbled.

"PROMISE!"

"Ok, OK! I promise."

Shion laughed, suddenly feeling much better, "After the battle, was anybody seriously hurt?" She asked on a more serious note, hoping the answer was negative.

"Well, Wilhelm's been pretty banged up," Myuki told her, "He's innocent now though. Whatever it was that was controlling him is gone. Hopefully for good. As for everyone else, just some scratches and bruises, nothing nano-technology can't cure. As for chaos..." She let her voice trail off, cursing herself for bringing him up.

"He's not...He's alive, right?" Shion asked, her voice wavering.

Allen shrugged sadly, "I don't know. He was still alive when KOS-MOS and the others brought him to the ER, but..." He stopped once he noticed Shion fidgeting uneasily in her bed, but continued anyway, "You should go to him."

"What?" Myuki hit him over the head, "Allen, are you nuts! Shion isn't supposed to leave this room!"

"He wasn't doing well Myuki!" Allen said, his voice suddenly painfully somber, "I know this is difficult to hear, but we have to be realistic, for chaos's sake. He's probably not going to make it. He was hurt really, really badly. I'm sure Shion has something to say to him...At the very least 'goodbye.'" His eyes suddenly watered, "I know I would want to say my last words to somebody I loved...before it's too late."

Oh my God. Allen was right. She shot up to her feet again. This time her knees didn't buckle. To the contrary, her limbs seemed to be made of flexible steel. She barreled past them, suddenly very, very afraid. She didn't think she would be able to live with herself if chaos died before she could thank him...before she could tell him everything she felt, especially after what had happened.

"Shion!" Myuki shouted after her, "You crazy, crazy person, you're in no condition to go running off—" But Allen silenced her.

Shion skidded to a halt and whipped around in the infirmary's doorway, staring at Allen and Myuki, "You guys are the best thing that have ever happened to me since I joined Vector!" She shouted teary-eyed. And then she was gone.

—

"How is he?"

Jr.'s voice left his lips in a strained whisper as he gazed at chaos's motionless body. MOMO was kneeling at his bedside, glowing softly with healing Ether, attempting to cure the smaller of his wounds. She and the doctors (all employed by the Kukai foundation, Jr. wanted only the absolute best to look after chaos) had just allowed visitors into chaos's room.

"Not good." One of the medics shook his head, "The wound across his abdomen is unlike anything we've ever seen before. None of our nano-treatment seams to be working."

MOMO cried softly at chaos's side, knowing full well that her healing spells wouldn't cure the wound either, but she stubbornly kept casting. She looked at his silent body, swathed in a white hospital gown. His usually tan, healthy was now pale and sickly, blending eerily with his gown. All of his vital stats had dropped dangerously below normal.

Jr. bit his lip, following MOMO's gaze to chaos's body, "Well...He stopped bleeding." Jr. offered hopefully.

"Yes," the doctor averted Jr.'s gaze, "The only way we could stop the loss of blood was through the use of stitches."

Jr. frowned, "What are stitches?"

"Er...they're thin sinews used to...sew up severed skin."

"WHAT?" He gazed at chaos, shocked, "You sewed him up like a doll?" He looked scandalized.

The doctor tried to pacify him, "I know it sounds crude and it is a very primitive procedure, but stitches were commonplace in the age of Lost Jerusalem. Besides, the blood is clotting nicely, so they appear to be working."

Jr. seemed reassured.

"Even so..." The doctor frowned and pulled Jr. aside, away from the ears of his other colleagues, and lowered his voice to a confidential whisper, "Little Master...Is the patient really human?"

"Wh–yeah, huh?"

"What I mean to say is, has he undergone any illegal life-recycling, genetic engineering, or DNA mutation procedures?"

"No-no. Not at all. Why?"

"We've run some blood tests, and while most of his cells check out as normal, we've found some proteins in his blood that are...well, we've never seen them before. They're unidentified!"

Jr. shifted uneasily, "Is that a problem?"

"Yes. The patient's spleen has extinguished all its reserves of blood, and he's lost already too much blood as is. He won't survive unless we preform a blood transfusion immediately, but do to the unusual characteristics of his bloodstream, we can't identify his blood type!"

A lump formed in Jr.'s throat, "C–can't you just transfuse chaos with the O-type? I thought O was the universal doner."

The doctor shook his head sadly, "No, we can't, because the antigens on his red blood cells are unidentified. His blood cells have an unusual and never-before-seen molecular structure. A transfusion of the wrong blood-type will kill him. We can't afford to take that risk."

"Damn," Jr. swore, "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Yes!"

All heads turned to the room's sliding door. KOS-MOS rushed in, looking worried but fiercely determined. "I'm the patient's sister!" She told the doctor, "We share the same blood type. I'll donate."

The doctor was taken aback, "Um...well, of course—but, you're not one of our registered doners, you'd have to fill out—"

"That's not important right now!" KOS-MOS cried, a passion in her blue eyes that Jr. had never seen before, "This is a hospital, isn't it? My brother could die! Isn't saving his life your priority?"

"...Yes, your right. My apologies." The doctor nodded. Screw protocol. "MOMO is it? Yes, please hand me those syringes."

—

_Rest assured, I won't leave before saying goodbye. _

The evening twilight in Second Miltia flashed past Shion in a whirring blur as she bolted faster than she had ever run before to the city's core...to the hospital. Neon lights streaked past her, the hustle and bustle of the city was all around her, people walking, children playing, car horns blaring impatiently in congested traffic...life surged around her in the pulsating metropolis. Life...so precious, yet so fragile. She didn't feel or hear any of it. All she heard was the sound of her heart beating furiously in her ears. All she felt was the hard ground as her feet met and left it beneath her almost instantaneously.

Rocketing towards downtown Second Miltia, she wove like a thunderbolt through the crowds, j-walking, angering drivers. She tore across a four-lane, two way street. Cars screeched to a stop around her, honking viciously. One car didn't stop in time. She leapt over it, her heal hitting the trunk, then the roof, then she cleared the vehicle entirely as passerbys watched amazed. She didn't care. She was too scared to feel fear, too hurt to feel pain. The only prayer than sang in her heart and reached the most profound depths of her soul was that she wasn't too late...that he hadn't left without saying goodbye.

She turned a corner and raced into the hospital.

—

"You ok, KOS-MOS?" Jr. asked as the doctor bandaged her arm and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. chaos's blood level was back to normal, but still...

"Yes. Thank you." She smiled and stared at the computer that monitored chaos's life functions, "but he's..." The waves on the screen indicating his heartbeat and brain activity were dangerously, dangerously low. They sagged, whimpered, and suddenly became cold, harsh horizontal bars.

"No..." MOMO whimpered. The screen flashed red once, twice, and then went blank.

"NO!" Jr. cried, grabbing hold of the doctor, "No, no, no, doctor! Come on, do a cardiac resuscitation! Get those charge things! Shock his heart! COME ON!"

"Little Master..." The doctor blinked furiously, placing his hands on Jr.'s shoulders, "It's too late. There's nothing I can do now. I'm so sorry..."

Hot tears rolled down Jr.'s cheeks.

—

Shion blazed through the hospital. She tore past the reception desk, knocked over an idle wheelchair, and stormed at an inhuman speed down the main corridor. She saw two paramedics roll out a body on a stretcher, covered with a white sheet. She didn't know if it was chaos. She didn't care; she just kept running, too afraid to do otherwise, too afraid to believe she had lost him forever.

_I love you so much...I'd lay down my life for you..._

"Damn it chaos!" She screamed. She had pulled him off a cross. She had rescued him from a perilous drop to Lost Jerusalem. She wound not lose him now! "I love you too!"

—

The room was quiet, save for MOMO's soft sobs. All around, the silence of death roared in everyone's ears. The doctor had long since abandoned the 'three guests maximum' rule, and allowed the rest of the Elsa's crew into chaos's room. Jin looked shell-shocked, at a complete loss for words. Ziggy bowed his head somberly. Of all people, chaos did not deserve this. He was so noble, so brave, so kind. chaos's frame blurred and watered as Jr. failed to blink away hot, stinging tears...as he failed to comfort a crying MOMO in his arms. KOS-MOS sat at chaos's bedside, hunched over, holder her head. Her shimmering blue hair fell in long locks over her shoulders, covering her face...her tears...her anguish.

Captain Mathews, Tony, and Hammer burst into the room, shoving away a nurse who was about to complain that too many people were in the operating room.

"Let us in!" The Captain bellowed, "We're his crew-mates!"

Tony collapsed on his knees at chaos's side, teary-eyed, his voice wavering, "chaos, buddy, it's us!" Both the Captain and Hammer seemed too petrified to speak...

_Damn it chaos! I love you too!_

**_Beep. _**Everyone jumped, startled by the computer's sharp outburst. **_Beep, beep, beep. _**Jr. wiped away his tears and stared at the blinking screen. A neat, symmetrical wave pulsated under the word _Heartbeat_.

"Oh my God..." MOMO whimpered against his neck, too scared to turn around.

Another sound filled the room, echoing with the computer's song of life, the sound of air rushing through thirsty but very alive lungs. chaos's eyes shot open, and it seemed as if in that moment the entire room were bathed in a warm emerald glow.

"Shion..." He whispered. KOS-MOS almost flew off the bed in excitement, extending a hand and helping her brother to his feet. His eyes were brilliant, his skin appeared to be glowing, "She's here..."

A bang, and then the sliding door came crashing down, wrenched from its hinges. Shion plowed into the room, knocking over her brother, running over Ziggy, almost stepping on Tony.

"chaos!" She cried, her face overjoyed, eyes mimicking his... She flew across the room and flung her arms around him, feeling chaos's warmth...feeling his love.

—

Shion stood with Allen and Myuki in front of the Vector Wing of the Second Miltian Hospital. A nurse emerged from one of the wards, "It's alright." She smiled, "You can go in now."

The colleagues stepping in nervously and found (to their shock) their once powerful and dignified President bandaged, sickly, and in critical condition, lying in a nano-treatment recovery bed. His eyes were a deep, chocolate hazel.

"G–good evening, Mr. President." Shion muttered nervously.

Wilhelm nodded politely, then blushed, "Forgive me, I seem to have forgotten quite a lot, and I've just been brought back from general anaesthesia. Would you mind introducing yourself?"

"Certainly," Shion smiled, "I'm Shion Uzuki, Director of First R&D Division and Chief Engineer of the KOS-MOS Development Team. This is Allen Ridgely, the Assistant Chief of Integrated Operation System Development, and Myuki Itsumi, a former programmer who now works in Second Division."

Their president nodded weakly, "Pleased to meet you." He paused for a moment, "I've been told briefly of what I have done and how I used my company to fulfill my ghastly needs. To say am I filled with self-loathing is an understatement. I am repulsed by my actions, and I wish I had never been brought into this world..."

"No," Shion shook her head. Her president's eyes were calm and sorrowful, nothing like the ruthless red monstrosities she had seen before, "Don't say that. The person who is lying in front of me is innocent. You were under the influence of U-DO. Before your poisoning, your company did a lot of good. There is no reason to sell yourself short."

Wilhelm sighed, "I wish to thank you for liberating me from that torture. I have no memories of my contamination with U-DO, all I remember is a world of pain and suffering. I know now that I will be forever in your debt."

"No, don't mention it." The words flew out of her mouth before Shion could stop herself, "After all, we all need a little help sometimes."

Wilhelm smiled, "I remember nothing, but I've been informed that I've caused a boy named Yeshua great anguish...How is he?"

Shion smiled, "Just fine. He's in physical therapy right now, but the doctors are optimistic that his recovery will be fast and complete."

Her president seemed greatly relieved. His eyes wandered to a plaque in the center of his room. It read: _Vector Wing of The Second Miltian Hospital, Named in honor of the generous contribution made by Vector Industries to our institution. We extend our most heartfelt and sincerest thanks._

"You know," Wilhelm began, "I'm disgusted with the path Vector has taken in the past fifteen years. We've become a company of war. I wish to remedy that. I want my company to re-enter the business of helping people. I think it's high time that a rich and successful conglomerate such as mine used its power and influence for charitable enterprises.

Shion nodded, "I would love that."

"I'm glad," Wilhelm chuckled, "because you will be very busy as Director of First Division. Starting today, Vector Industries will turn a new leaf and use all its resources to fund our hospitals, improve our schools, give aid to the underprivileged, and transport our military weapons to where they are needed most—fighting the Gnosis. You'll see, Ms. Uzuki, Mr. Rigdley, Ms. Itsumi, you are my witnesses. You'll see in you lifetimes that it will become an honorable and noble thing to work for Vector!"

—

Shion exited Wilhelm's room, looking elated. She sighed deeply, and spotted KOS-MOS down the hall across from her...smiling...warm...human. Neither woman said anything, they just raced into each other's arms.

"KOS-MOS!" Shion cried happily, not sure why she was suddenly so overtaken by an outburst of emotion. She stared into KOS-MOS's eyes...so blue! No Development Team could ever produce that color.

"So..." She breathed, "You really are human...more than human, an angel!"

KOS-MOS laughed, "I'm 'a being born from the highest plane of the Unus Mundus.' Angel sounds better though."

Shion stared, "My gosh...you're so different!" An unexpected happiness surged through her, as if Shion had waited her whole life to meet KOS-MOS, and now she was standing in front of her.

"No I'm not! I'm still the same KOS-MOS you've always known." She smiled, "This part of me was always inside, hidden behind a robotic visage. It came out a few times before, but today I woke up completely, because you were in mortal danger..."

"It's incredible. It feels like I've only just met you, but I've known you for the longest time."

KOS-MOS giggled again, her voice soft and sweet, almost like a song, "I thought you'd like to know, chaos is much better now. The doctors practically kicked him out of physical therapy, saying he didn't need any. They even removed his stitches because there's no wound anymore. They say he's in perfect health!"

"Amazing..." Shion breathed.

"Listen, Shion," KOS-MOS's voice suddenly turned somber, "It's not safe for the path to Lost Jerusalem to be left open. It's too early. There are still many secrets locked within its ancient grounds that mankind is not ready to see."

Shion looked at her quizically, "So...you're going to close the path?"

"Tonight, when I go to sleep, the path will close. When I wake up, I'll be an android again."

"NO!" She grabbed KOS-MOS's shoulders, "You can't! I-I've only just found you! I don't want this part of you to leave..." Her sentence ended in a stifled sob.

KOS-MOS smiled tenderly, "Shion, don't cry. I'm not going anywhere! This part of me is always here, it always has been, and I'm sure that in the future it will come out more often."

Shion sniffled, "I'll still miss you..."

"Don't worry. I'll wake up again, when the time comes. Permanently. Until then, watch out for me. I'm closer to you than you think, I always have been. All you have to do is open your eyes." KOS-MOS winked.

Shion nodded and hugged her again, wondering how long it would be before she heard that sweet voice or saw those celestial blue eyes again. She kicked herself mentally too late as her emotions got the best of her, "I love you KOS-MOS."

"I love you too, Shion, and so does my brother. More than you could imagine." She grinned, and her eyes lit up, "Oh, speaking of which, there was something he wanted to show you before I closed the path to Lost Jerusalem."

"What's that?"

—

The Elsa rumbled softly above the ground of an ancient world, and finally touched down, raising a small cloud of clay and dust. Shion emerged into dazzling sunlight, followed by her awestruck friends. They gazed upon the marble ruins before them, and fell somberly silent, afraid that disturbing the noble majesty of the scenery with their voices would be disrespectful to the power and the glory of the ruins shining around them.

Mathews sank to a sitting position on the cobblestoned ground, overtaken with amazement. He had lived and seen, but nothing came close to this: the grandeur of the ancients. He looked at the ground momentarily to shield his eyes from the blazing sun, and spotted a loose cobblestone. Smiling with awe (and a little more than a bit of avarice) he picked it up and turned it around in his hands. How much would a genuine cobblestone from this part of Lost Jerusalem be worth? He pocketed it happily, and envisioned his conversation with Shion:

"_Captain! That's an artifact from Lost Jerusalem! The planet's supposed to be sealed, and you stole something from it!"_

"_Relax! It's just a rock. Do you have any idea how much this thing is worth?"_

"_That's not the point! You're disrespecting the ancients–"_

"_A quarter of a trillion dollars. One rock."_

"_...How many of those cobblestones you got?"_

—

She found him gazing in awe in the midst of the ruins, facing the most magnificent temple Shion had ever seen.

"Hi." She whispered, walking shyly up to him, herself overwhelmed by the majesty of the place. He smiled warmly at her, and took her hand.

"chaos... Where are we exactly?" She breathed as her eyes fell upon the tall, marble columns, the sweeping arcs, the domed churches, and the beautifully corniced temples that were all part of an ancient city that seemed to stretch to the horizon.

"Rome." He whispered, his eyes locked almost in a trance at the columns of the _Forum Romanum_. "The capital of the ancient world. This, Shion, is arguably where it all began. The history of this place is almost as overwhelming as the vastness of the cosmos. I–I wanted to see the place where our ancients, following the steps of their Greek cousins, shook off for the first time the shackles of ignorance and created liberty, science, drama, democracy, classical art and architecture, and passed the torch on to Europe, to the Western World, and finally to the farthest reaches of the galaxy our intellectual and philosophical heritage. This culture, this heritage, _our _roots, is the one that withstood the test of time. Humanity's history can be traced either directly or indirectly to this city. We are looking, Shion, at the earliest dawn of modern civilization."

She breathed in respectful silence, gazed at the crumbling ruins that still retained all of the glory they had when the city was in its prime. She walked along the same path her ancient ancestors walked on thousands and thousands of years ago. The feeling gave her goose bumps.

"It's beautiful," She murmured, "Thank you. Thank you for showing me...me and my brother, and everybody! Words can't describe..."

He grinned at her, "Mankind is impressive, but as glorious as these ruins are, this isn't what I wanted to show you." He scooped her up gently into his arms, "No matter how far humanity progresses, there are still some things we just can't top."

With that he unfurled his wings and tore into the air, rocketing West, carrying a surprised and giggling Shion, leaving a trail of angel feathers in his wake as he chased the sun across the sky.

—

He alighted on the Italian coastline, salty seawater lapping at his and Shion's ankles.

"chaos! What are you doing?" She laughed, "I can't see anything–ah!–are we in water?"

"Shh, it's a surprise, just follow my lead for a minute." His right hand covered her eyes; he didn't want her to see what he was about to show her just yet. He waded a few feet through the water, leading her forward gently unitl they had an uninterrupted view all the way to the horizon.

"Remember the day we had to clear out the Elsa? I found you grumbling to yourself in one of the cabins..."

_You mean the day I fell hopelessly in love with you? _She remembered, how could one forget?

"...Remember what we talked about? We began bemoaning the fact that we would never see the sun that gave birth to mankind."

"Oh yeah, you said something about a sunset. That the solar panels at the Kukai Foundation were nice but that they'd never match up to a real thing, that they'd never mimic a true sunset on Lost Jeru—" Her heart skipped a beat.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" He grinned, and removed his hand from her face.

She gasped, her eyes went wide, her mouth dropped. It was almost too overwhelming at first. She felt as if she should shield her eyes, as if she wasn't worthy enough to see something so beautiful. The oranges! The pinks! The reds! She gasped again, staggered back, fell to her knees into the water, chaos joining her, laughing sweetly. The sky was a canvas splashed with unspeakably gorgeous orange and red light, streaking out in all directions, tinting the clouds pink, illuminating the world in a soft, almost magical glow. It felt surreal, and as if the jaw-dropping majesty of the sky weren't enough, all of its grandeur was reflected off a fiery Mediterranean, the sea glowing in sync with the colors above it. Sunlight shimmered off the water, making every ripple dance with light. Shion had to grip chaos's hands to stop from shaking, the beauty was all around her, splashing at the water around her legs, shining in the clouds above her, glowing off a momentarily orange and pink coastline; radiant color burst from every facet of Lost Jerusalem in soft beams of light. Her entire world, for one spectacular moment, was perfect.

And in an instant it was gone. The glowing sun—_the _sun, whose rays gave rise to life, to humanity itself, without whose rays there would be no life, no humanity, no history, no beauty to admire—slipped gently behind the calm waters of the Mediterranean Sea, and the colors receded. The glow dimmed, casting its light one last time across the water, dancing through her hair, sparkling off his eyes, as if to bid them goodbye. Soon the sunlight surrendered to the night, and the world changed again. An ocean of stars twinkled above their heads, as they splashed each other under the silver light of a full moon.

She pushed him playfully and he grabbed her, dragging her down with him, both laughing happily like children as they crashed into the sea's warm waters.

"Oh my God!" She sighed, yanking him closer to her, wiping the wet, platinum locks out of his eyes, "That was...I can't even find the words to describe it! You weren't kidding when you said that a sunset on Lost Jerusalem was the most beautiful thing ever! You'd think the ones on Second Milita would be the same, right? But there's just something special about this place, not just the colors, but the whole feeling you get when you stare up at the amazing sky!" She giggled, caressing his cheeks, "Thanks for sharing that with me. I'd never seen anything so beautiful before, never in my wildest dreams." Well...maybe his eyes, but she wasn't about to turn into a pile of fluffy mush at his feet right that minute, although the sunset did certainly catalyze fluffy mushy reactions from her. Maybe that was the reason he brought her here...how devious!... She would have to hold out for at least ten minutes...

"You're welcome," He smiled, blushing, "There's nobody else I'd rather share it with."

And watch how Shion turns to pudding. She made to grab him and pull him into a hot, passionate kiss, but he eluded her and took off through the water.

"Hey!" She yelled, chasing after him, "Get your cute little ass back over here, angel-boy, I'm not through with you!"

He turned around, his eyes shining in the moonlight, and motioned for her to catch him, "Come get me then! Watch out for crabs though, some of them aren't so gentle."

"I'll show you gentle!" She growled and pounced on him, but she missed by a hair as his wings unfurled and he rocketed up into the sky...and she rocketed down into the sea, causing a wave of almost tidal proportions.

"Ooh, so close. And to think Jr. always tells me 'hey chaos, you're sooo slow!'"

She spat out a mouthful of seawater, "That's cheating! You...cheater! Flying's not fair!"

He twirled around in the air mischievously, taunting her, "Then come on up here and pull me back down...sexy."

Shion tripped. When chaos flirted unexpectedly her mind reeled.

"What's wrong?" He laughed, "You had no trouble flying before, Miss Golden-Winged, Chosen of the Unus Mundus, Lifesaver!"

"Yeah, well, how 'bout I shove you off a cliff, and then we'll see if I can rescue you or not!"

"How 'bout we play a game of volleyball...naked!"

"chaos!" The mysteries never ceased. What brought about this sudden but certainly not undesired change in him? She liked to think she had that effect on him. And judging by the way he was staring at her, she thought she was right.

He cartwheeled through the air, seemingly floating through the stars, and floated upwards a bit.

"Where are you going?" She laughed, feeling the soft sea breeze through her hair, the same breeze that ruffled his wings.

"I'm going back to the Unus Mundus!" chaos cried, trying his best (but failing miserably) to look serious and melancholy. "I'm needed in another prophecy. This one's about monkeys!"

She covered her mouth in mock horror, "Oh no! You're going to sacrifice yourself to the monkeys?"

"No! Why would I do that? I have to insure the banana imports are going well up in Heaven's Ruins!"

She scowled and tried to look drunk, "Quit your stupid crap and get down here!" She yelled in an uncanny imitation of Captain Mathews.

He laughed, but quickly recovered with an overly dramatic look of sadness, "I can't. My destiny is forever linked with the fate of the Zohar. My sister and I, our paths are already set. Our destinies begin and end with the extermination of the Gnosis."

"Screw destiny!" She cried, even though she realized that a part of his statement was true. They were not, as far as she knew, completely out of the woods yet. The Gnosis still roamed the universe. KOS-MOS had said it was too early to reveal the path to Lost Jerusalem. Maybe there was more left to be done, more adventures to chase, more missions to follow. chaos's life, while saved by Shion's endeavors, was still linked mysteriously with the happenings of the Zohar.

He left her gaze momentarily, and stared up at the dizzying night sky. Up there, in the stars, his relatives and ancestors smiled down upon him. All the Aeons and the Seraphim, all the angels and the divine who had chosen him to fulfill his quest, to become part human, to safeguard humanity's life, which was both so resilient and yet so fragile. Up there, swimming in the ocean of stars, lay everyone he had ever known. Everyone he had ever loved...except for one.

He pivoted again in the air, and blazed downwards like a comet, trailing a silvery aura behind him. He grabbed a startled Shion and carried her back up into the air, kissing her sweetly and softly at first, before she could respond in kind and fill their hearts with more fire then either of them had ever felt.

"So..." He gasped, once their warm lips parted, "I gather we'll be having your curry tonight?"

She giggled in a way that ignited his passion to unknown temperatures, "among other things..." She grinned seductively.

The most interesting shade of crimson lighted his cheeks, "You're something, you know that?"

She laughed somewhat devilishly, and attacked his lips again, "Thank you..." She murmured against his lips, "Thank you for everything."

And she knew, as he held her there, borne up on angel wings above the shimmering Mediterranean, beneath the starlight sky, that she would do everything in her power to help him through his quest. Whatever his destiny may be, whatever truths lay hidden behind his green eyes, Shion would help him, because love was worth the risk, love stretched beyond the limits of humanity, beyond good and evil, beyond all the pain and sorrow she had previously felt. And no matter what the universe had in store for them, she could rest assured; because through him her pain subsided, her scars faded, and even a heart that was once as cynical and closed up as hers could find hope in the warm, pacifying, emerald eyes that she lost herself in over and over again.

_**- - - -fin- - - - **_

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...Oh my God, this is my...first...completed...fic...EVER! I–I it's—I don't even know where to begin! For the first time since I started writing this story, I'm at a loss for words. Go figure.

I guess I should start with the thank you's, because Lord knows there are people to be thanked. You all know who you are. You've read this story, commented, reviewed, kept me writing even through the horrible periods of writer's block, lifted my self-esteem off the ground when I felt like I couldn't string two words together. I never dreamed my story would _ever_ be as widely read as it is. When I wrote the first chapter four months ago (has it really been that long?) I was returning to fanfiction after three and a half years of creative doldrums. I'd been just coming out of a really rocky period in my life, one of those moments in life when I felt really, _really _depressed, when the only thing I met was failure, in all aspects of life—school, friends, relationships—and when my self-worth was somewhere between the ground and the sole of my shoe. I really just wanted to give up and crawl under my bed for the remainder of my life. But then stuff started to happen, my grades came home, and I graduated high-school with honors (which made me happy) I got this nice letter from this nice college (which made me happier, considering I had eight not-so-nice letters from eight other colleges that were not-so-nice...to me) and things just started to change...for the better (because when you've hit rock bottom, you can only go up...unless you get a shovel, which I've done a few times) and this story was part of the change.

I know this sounds so not like a "you're supposed to be a level-headed, almost eighteen year old, get a grip, boy!" remark but it's true: at a time when I didn't feel any worth or validation for myself, I had to start borrowing it from other people who didn't think I should crawl under my bed for the rest of my life; and you guys were a part of those people. I wrote the first chapter and said what the hell, worst thing that happens, it just sits there. And I really wasn't expecting much. I didn't think I'd get a reception any better then when I published my first Digimon stories ages and ages ago, which I've re-read now and they're terrible! And no, I'm not fishing for compliments here, they are really, really **bad**. But I figured, hey, I write better now then I did when I didn't know the difference between an adjective and an adverb, so...why not?

And then the reviews came...and they kept coming and I read them and I was floored. Completely floored, because it felt like I was suddenly doing something right for a change. And I only have you guys to thank...and maybe my unhealthy obsession with RPG's.

Wow...I guess I wasn't at a loss for words after all..hee, hee. Enough of that emotional crap, I'm starting to feel like violins should be playing in the background. Without further ado, here is the wonderful:

**THANK-A-THON!**

Because when I do things, I do them to a "t." If you've reviewed this story before midnight on Septermber 11, 2005, you will be thanked. I've listed the reviewers in order of appearance, by their first reviews (if you left more then one). Once I become Supreme Ruler of The World, I'll appoint all of you to very lucrative positions in my staff of advisors. Here we go...

**Silver Nightingale: **My first reviewer, so you're special by default. You started a chain reaction that made me want to write again, just for the sake of writing, so thank you.

**KP-X: **Oh my God, where do I begin? You said this story was your favorite fanfiction ever, you said you got lost in my writing, you said I have _talent_, you said you're sad the story is over (guess what, me too...) You said you re-read it _twice! _You're like...my favorite person ever right about now! You did question my manliness though, which was a bit of a blow to the ego, but in light of everything else you said, I easily forgive you, and then some! Thanks for making me feel like Charles Dickens every time I updated a chapter (Insert super mega smiley face here that yells "thank you, you're awesome!") Expect a dedication in my next Xenosaga story.

**Wends: **Is my other favoritest person in the world right now. Every time you've left a review I've practically fallen off my chair, the one for chapter 4 is probably my favorite. But for all of them, you were honest, succinct, and made me feel all giddy when I read them. I thanked you before, but you know what, you're so wonderful that I'm gonna thank you again! Oh, and thanks for the college advice. Here I was thinking I could ride my parents' tuition dollars partying the semester away...Oh well. Oh and by the way, once I become Supreme Ruler of The World, I'm putting you in charge of all military operations, and you can feel free to do and shoot whatever you want. Keep in mind I'm not fond of jerks, morons, racists, telemarketers, super-conservative Republicans, and those shmucks who think America is more violent today because of Anime and video games. Where do they get off, thinking cartoons and games foster violence? Go blow their heads off! And one last thing, "almost 30" is _not _"crotchety and old." Crotchety and old is when you're a drooling vegetable in diapers and dentures. You are way too cool to be crotchety and old. Take care! (And you too should expect a dedication in future Xenosaga fics)

**chaosxShion: **You're too kind. And go people who don't support cannon pairings! Who says we have to be conventional and follow the ShionxAllen, chaosxKOS-MOS mainstream. Don't be afraid to go out and be different. We'll make converts of them yet! And now I'm rambling... Thanks!

**Kos-MosMOMO: **Another wonderful reviewer who had nothing but nice things to say. Thanks so much, and don't go insane. I think this story has over 100,000 words. Plenty of more stuff for you to read.

**KOS-MOS rox: **Is probably the biggest ShionxAllen supporter on the face of the planet, but the fact that you based your review on the content of the writing instead of flaming it like sooo many other immature fangirls do (I wrote Digimon fics. I know) is worth more than you even realize. Thanks for the support!

**kikyogirl900: **Here is someone who not only liked the story but also actually cared if I would have fun on the two-week vacation I spent with my boring old grandparent farts in Italy (which turned out to be a drag, _che palle, _but that's not the point)Thank you!

**Dark drow: **And you made me blush. And you said I could take me time. And you're awesome. Thanks!

**Chuckieum: **I hope that after ten long chapters I managed to keep up the humor, the romance, and the sarcasm that you liked. (Smiley face)

**Rachridgeback: **Is so cool, so very, very, very cool, because you pointed out specifically everything you liked about the story, and you made me bounce around my room for about five minutes out of retarded happiness! Thank you!

**Aeris1172: **Where. To. Begin. Your reviews were fantastic, overzealous even (see ch. 2) but you quite literally made me feel like a superstar. I think I want to hug you! I'm planning on writing this stupidly hilarious Xenosaga parody that isn't meant to be taken seriously at all, but anyway, if I ever get around to writing it, guess who I'm dedicating it too...Oh, and just for the record, you are THE BEST REVIEWER EVAR. EVAR. Thanks for everything.

**Cyanedo: **You're feeling was right (I am really that predictable?) But I hope I threw in enough plot twists into the story to keep you guessing!

**The Adversary: **After publishing chapter two, I really didn't feel like writing anymore. Then I read you review, and I felt like writing chapter three (and four, and five, and six...) Major thanks. You saved the story.

**EnkiduFish: **Truth be told, I read Nowhere Souls, and felt so inspired that I proceeded to write a Xenosaga Sxc story myself. If it weren't for you, there would be no Borne Up on Angel Wingsso I'm afraid you get the biggest thanks of them all. Keep writing!

**Gray Wolf Demon: **If my writing makes just one person walk away smiling, then I did what I set out to do. Thanks so much, and I hope you enjoyed the last chapter.

**xchaosx: **You made my self-esteem soar, and you kept me in line when I took chaos and flung him completely out of character. It's your type of review that not only keeps me going, but makes me want to improve, so that my writing gets better every time. Thank you.

**OkonomiyakeUcchan**: Watch me blush and grin like an idiot. How did you ever come up with such a stunning prediction of the story with your bunny theory (first the angsty bunnies, then the fluffy ones, followed by the smoochy bunnies and the hot-make-up sex bunnies). You had me feeling all giddy for like a week. Oh, and all submissions will be accepted before the end of September. Heh, heh... Thanks for everything.

**Nayru: **A seemingly hardcore Shion/chaos fan. Those are usually (ironically) the hardest ones to please. I'm glad you liked the fic. Thanks!

**Shadow-Assassin: **I do feel honored, and thanks for the support. Every little review is worth a lot, and no, you're not a bad person. I do that all the time too, I read and then I don't review b/c I'm too freaking _lazy. _We just have to keep in mind that most authors pour their heart out into their stories, and feedback for them is extremely important. Thanks for yours!

**Devilman666: **I'm glad you liked the story, glad you liked the prophecy, glad about pretty much everything right now. And you said I'm doing awesome, (smiley face). Thanks!

**cviu: **Short and sweet. Thank you!

**Dannigurl9488: **Yay, I'm really happy somewhat liked the whole chaos vs. Wilhelm thing, since that was basically the whole crux of the story. Thanks!

**Thequietgenius: **Holy cow...You're awesome. When I become Supreme Ruler of The World, you can have any position you want. I'm flattered you think I should take over as Director of the new Xenosaga. I say we can shorter but more interesting cutscenes and a less repetitive battle system! (Vote for me during the director's election). Super thanks!

**Censes: **You've said so many wonderful things that made me all happy, but this one takes the cake: "you're very good at 'pulling stuff out of your ass'". That remark almost made me cry with happiness, 'cause the pulling is about the only thing I can do! You rock right back at ya! (Smiley face and super thank you).

**Dragon Chyld: **My God...I'll even take a sitting applause! Thank you. At the end of the day, the only thing I try to do when I write is to try to involve the reader emotionally. You saying I succeeded made me jump over the moon. Twice. You're the best! (Smiley face!)

**theotrophic: **Ok, I think you're awesome, eternal thanks for the wonderful review, don't hurt your head. Good we're done with that, now LIZ–that's right, I'm cutting out all formalities–are you going to update _Stranded, _or I am going to have to throw the biggest screaming tantrum of all time? Keep in mind that when I become Supreme Ruler of The World, _Stranded _will be required reading for high school students. Seriously, you wrote my favorite Xenosaga fanfic, and it's not finished yet! (Grumble, grumble) You better get cracking, because a fantastic writer like you needs to finish her stories. And in case you didn't catch this before, thank you, thank you, thank you.

**a.n.g.e.l.: **Yeah...spelling and me don't really get along. We just try to live together peacefully. Soldiers for shoulders? Jeez, that's almost like the time I mis-wrote Virginia for Vagi–ah, well, no use crying over spilt milk, right? Anyway, thanks for the support, and I hope you enjoyed the last chapter.

**Fisvd: **Another short and sweet reviewer. Thanks!

**Keikun4283: **Heh, heh, watch me giggle like a moron as I read your reviews. You're awesome, thanks for the support! (Smiley face)

**NaruNaru.o.k.: **And if I don't sleep soon, I'm going to die. I'm glad you enjoyed the fic, because now I can sleep easy, and not trudge around in a zombie-like state in the morning. Thanks for reviewing!

**FrequencyQueen: **Hope you liked all the parts where Shion whooped major tooshie. Thanks for the support! (Smiley face)

**Yonder: **Aww, thank you! I try my best, I'm glad you think this story is up to par with the game. Remarks like that make me all jumpy and happy! Thanks!

**Naoki07**: One word: You're awesome! No wait, that's two. Maybe I should get some more sleep... Anyway, my God, way to make me blush shamelessly! Thanks for all the support (super mega smiley face!) I hope I'll write other Xeno stories that are at least as good as this one.

**Rdsullivan: **Uh...wow. It's like I can't find the words to describe how awesome you make me feel. It is currently 5:32 in the morning. I didn't wake up this early, I stayed up this early because I more than anything wanted to thank **_you_**! I guess there's no use repeating all the fantastic make-me-blush-and-giggle-shamelessly things you said about me, 'cause you just get the biggest, most heartfelt thanks of them all. You called me a writer-stud! I was bouncing around my room doing my little dance, dance, in front of my computer for a shameful ten minutes after that, you're gonna inflate my ego to enormously dangerous proportions! Let me go on record saying that you are the best freaking artist on deviantArt and then I'm practically wetting my pants in anticipation of whatever you draw up that's based on Borne Up on Angel Wings. Your support has charged my ity-bity brain with new ideas for more Xenosaga fics (yes, one of them is totally chaos-oriented) and that one's gonna be dedicated to you! Thanks for everything!

Wow. I apologize in advance if I missed anyone, or if I misspelled any names, or if some of the thank you's make absolutely no sense. I am so tired, the sheep are counting me...

Anyway, last thoughts, and then I'll stop because I bet some eyeballs are bleeding right about now: I hope you guys enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it. I had loads of fun, and it's the first of hopefully many, many more. I'll keep you guys posted, but there are already two working ideas fermenting in my mind. One's called The Harmony of Chaos (guess who that one's about.)

Hope you all liked the last chapter, I tried to make it seem like I wasn't running out of steam. Sorry for the little tear away from the Xenosaga environments at the tail end. I was born in Italy, so I guess the ending in Rome is a bit of hidden patriotism on my part. (Yay for my dual-citizenship! Guess what my college essay was about.)

Oh, oh, LAST COMMENTS! I love last comments almost as much as reviews. Tell me if you liked Chapter Ten, the story as a whole, anything! And if Borne Up on Angel Wings breaks 100 reviews (something I didn't think would ever happen on God's green earth) there's going to be a major party going on up here in NYC, and then when I go off to college in Chicago, we'll party up over there too. I don't know what'll happen if it breaks 100, I'll start taking requests! I'll write whatever you want. You just tell me.

Thus ends the longest Author's Note ever written in the history of histories. And now I'm done. And now I'll sleep, because I'm done. Ciao!


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